Change the Future? That's Impossible Book One
by MetronomeMemory
Summary: The restricted section in the Hogwarts library is home to some terrifying and weird books, so what's the Harry Potter series doing in there? Join the Marauders and Lily as they read the Harry Potter series and try to change the future. On hiatus back soon
1. Chapter 1: The Boy Who Lived

A/N: So I've been reading a lot Harry Potter fanfiction lately and one thing that I've seen a fair bit of these 'Marauders read the Series' series but a lot of them go unfinished. I thought I'd give it a crack, I'm currently aiming to do all seven books and then perhaps a story afterwards to show the aftermath of reading the books. I also thought doing one of these might be a good way to ease me into the fanfiction world and be fun! haha

This is my first fiction on here but that doesn't mean you have to take it easy on me.

I hope you enjoy the chapter =]

xxx

Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise. JK Rowling owns the Harry Potter series, the words in bold are hers... not mine. :)

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**Chapter One: The Boy Who Lived **or Perfectly Normal Equals Boring.

It was a snowy yet sunny day in the Hogwarts grounds; students were enjoying the rare sunshine; making snowmen and having snowball fights. But the four students we're interested in were doing none of these things; they were in the library studying for exams that were still two months away.

"Oh come on Moony, I hate the library and exams are still ages away. Look outside, it doesn't get much better than that." Sirius complained for about the fifth time that hour, but this time he continued. "Sniv is sitting under a tree not getting snowballed or anything, that is a crime against nature… A crime I tell you!" He banged his fist against the table for extra effect, earning a serious glare from the new school librarian.

"I know, I know and I'm sorry… I know how much it would brighten your day; especially after Prongs' run in with Lily this morning, but Pete needs all the help he can get… No offence, Wormtail" Remus gave Peter a glance across the table. "Anyway, it wouldn't hurt for you two to bone up on your potions work either."

James; who was looking out the window at the beautiful redhead down on the grounds; the snow in her hair, pink in her cheeks and the bright smile on her face, turned around at this point to join his mates in reality. "Paddy, sorry mate but Moony's right… Wormtail here needs the help. We can grab Sniv tonight and make up for it." James grinned at his best friend; pranking Severus Snape was a favourite past time of theirs and would take the opportunity any chance they got.

Remus got up from the table saying he was going to grab another book, told Peter to read a couple of pages and if he had any questions that he could ask James and Sirius. But the two boys were neck deep in Quidditch strategy; they were discussing Parkin's Pincer, a chaser move that James wanted to try for the next game against Slytherin.

Remus came back about ten minutes later, his right arm limply holding the potions book he was looking for and in his left hand, he was reading the back of a small paperback novel. He put the textbook on the table and continued reading the back of the other book; the others noticed Remus's distraction and brought him back to Earth. "Hey, whatcha got there, Moony?" James asked.

"Hmm… Oh I found this next to the Potions section. There was a whole series there by the looks of it. The 'Potter' in 'Harry Potter' caught my eye, relation of yours Prongs?" Moony asked showing the front of the book to James. He grabbed the book and looked at the front cover, which showed a young boy; who looked oddly like James getting on the Hogwarts Express.

"Never seen him before in my life…" James muttered.

"He sure does look like you though, Prongs. I mean the hair alone is you" Sirius said, snatching the book off James to get a closer look.

"I hate to say it, but Sirius is right. I also looked inside the book and it was first published in 1997, that's around 20 years from now." Remus commented, "You guys know I don't believe in all that weird Divination stuff but don't you think that's a little… odd?"

"So what you're saying in some witch wrote a book about some kid and then sent it into the past?" Sirius asked sarcastically, "Now Moony I thought you had more sense than that? Wormtail, what do you think?" He grinned again and threw the book across the table. Peter missed the throw but picked it up and proceeded to flick through it.

"Well, Moony might be onto something. Maybe it is here for a reason," he stopped when Sirius gave him a 'are you kidding?' look. "No, no Padfoot hear me out, there might be more to the book than meets the eye. What if it's… Prongs' son or something?" Peter proposed, putting the book in the middle of the table.

"I don't have a son, apart from the hair and the name he's nothing like me." James said, looking at the picture trying to find any difference between him and the strange kid.

"Maybe not now Prongs… but anyway, I think we should read it. If it is from the future it could be interesting. Plus, I wanna hear about Prong's future son. I'm gonna be Godfather right Jamesy boy?" Sirius laughed, punching his friend lightly on the arm.

"If it is futuristic then it could be dangerous to know what's in store… but on the other hand, if we have an opportunity to fix something that's gone wrong then it would be the right thing to do." Remus tried to justify it for himself, and Peter just nodded in agreement. "But if we're going to read it, it shouldn't be here. Miss Pince keeps looking over here, it doesn't take long after a teacher gets here that they know of the Marauders and the trouble that follows them." Remus said joking and laughing.

"Marauders and trouble? No Moony, never… We are always perfect, no matter what." James said sarcastically, slowly getting up from his chair, "But we can read it in the common room or in the dorm, I guess."

The boys walked up towards the Gryffindor common room, most of the halls were empty due to the students enjoying the snow. They walked past the portrait, the common room and up to the seventh year boys dorm then all fell on Remus' bed; his being the closest.

They all stared at the book for a good five minutes in silence before one of them spoke.

"So are we going to read this thing or not?" Peter asked, looking at the other four on the bed.

"I guess we should…" Remus answered, picking up the book and finding the first chapter. "Well… Here we go…" and he started to read aloud.

**Chapter one: The Boy Who Lived.**

"The boy who lived? That could be me; I did live through my whole life with my horrible parents. But 'The boy who lived' is a stupid nickname…" Sirius rambled until Remus hit him on the back of the head with the book making the other two laugh.

"As I was saying…" Remus said, glaring at Sirius.

**Mr and Mrs Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense. **

Sirius snored "Boring, perfectly normal equals boring. It's simple math."

"They sound like muggles to me... really, really boring muggles." James added.

Remus just rolled his eyes at the pair and continued reading.

**Mr Dursley was the director of a firm called Grunnings, which made drills.**

"What's a drill?" Peter asked.

"Muggle thing-a-ma-bob, puts holes in things." Sirius replied.

"Wow… You actually listened in Muggle Studies?" Remus asked astonished.

"Give me a _little_ credit Moony." Sirius replied.

**He was a big beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large moustache. Mrs Dursley was thin and blonde and had nearly twice the usual amount of neck, which came in useful as she spent so much of her time craning over garden fences, spying on the neighbours. **

The four boys burst out laughing at the descriptions, the thought of people who actually looked like that were hilarious.

"Well… they sound like quite the pair." James said still chuckling.

"Let's home they aren't related to you in anyway, Prongs" Remus responded.

"And if they are, God help us…" James laughed again.

**The Dursleys had a small son called Dudley and in their opinion there was no finer boy anywhere. **

"Wait, those two actually had a child?" Peter asked astounded.

"Who in their right mind would allow those two muggles to procreate?" Sirius said, making James, Peter and Remus laugh.

"And Dudley, what a name. I'm feeling more and more sorry for the kid." Remus added.

**The Dursleys had everything they wanted, but they also had a secret, and their greatest fear was that somebody would discover it. They didn't think they could bear it if anyone found out about the Potters.**

"Hang on a minute, what in Merlin's name is wrong with my family?!" James yelled frustrated at the book.

"And this means you're actually related to them…" Peter added.

Sirius hugged his friend, "I'm sorry mate… I am"

"But James, do you actually know anyone named Dursley?" Remus asked.

James had to think for a minute.

"My family's pure blood so they can't be a relation" James smiled, happier at the sound of this. "But I still want to know what they have against my family, so read on Mr Moony."

**Mrs Potter was Mrs Dursley's sister, but they hadn't met for several years; in fact Mrs Dursley pretended she didn't have a sister, because her sister and her good-for-nothing husband were as unDursleyish as it was possible to be. **

"I didn't even think unDursleyish was even a word…" Sirius said.

"Apparently it is…" Remus replied chuckling.

"But good news being for me, they're just in-laws. Wonder who my wife is? Oh oh maybe it's Evans" James started daydreaming about a future with Lily Evans.

"Prongs," Sirius snapped his fingers in front of James' face. "Sorry to burst your bubble, but last time I checked Evans still hated you."

"Things can change…" James smiled wistfully.

Remus rolled his eyes at his best friends yet again and continued.

**The Dursleys shuddered to think what would happen if the Potters arrived in the street. **

"Everyone would bow down to our awesome… that's what." James said.

"James…" Remus lightly threatened. "Shut it… now."

**The Dursleys knew the Potters had a small son too, but they had never seen him. This boy was another good reason for keeping the Potters away; they didn't want Dudley mixing with a child like that. **

"My son's better anyway." James muttered.

"Hear, hear!" Sirius cheered. "Marauders and sons of should not mix with slimy gits."

"We should make that a rule or something… Because then Prongs' son wont have to see Dudley" Peter suggested chuckling.

"Like Marauder guidelines?" Remus asked sceptically.

James grinned at Peter, "Wormtail that's a brilliant idea. And Padfoot's one will be first on the list."

Sirius grabbed some parchment and a quill and wrote down _Marauder Rules. _ Then proceeded to write the rule underneath.

**When Mr and Mrs Dursley woke up on the dull, grey Tuesday our story starts,**

Sirius opened his mouth to say something but Remus glared at him. When Sirius didn't end up saying anything Remus continued.

**There was nothing about the cloudy sky outside to suggest that strange and mysterious things would soon be happening all over the country. Mr Dursley hummed as he picked out his most boring tie for work and Mrs Dursley gossiped away happily as she wrestled a screaming Dudley into his highchair.**

Sirius leaned his head on James' shoulder and started snoring. "Could they be any more _boring?" _he complained frustrated. "When are we going to get to this Harry kid?"

"It's called patience, Padfoot." Remus replied.

**At half-past eight, Mr Dursley picked up his briefcase, pecked Mrs Dursley on the cheek and tried to kiss Dudley goodbye but missed, because Dudley was now having a tantrum and throwing cereal at the walls. 'Little tyke,' chortled Mr Dursley as he left the house. **

"You know I take back what I said about being sorry for the kid. He seems just as bad as the parents." Remus said.

"Brat." Sirius agreed

"Monster." Peter nodded.

"Dursley needs to take off the rose coloured glasses, that's what." James sighed irritated.

**He got into his car and backed out of number four's drive. **

**It was on the corner of the street he noticed the first sign of something peculiar – a cat reading a map. **

"Animagus?" Peter suggested.

"Could be, I mean how many cats do you see reading maps in the muggle world?" Remus answered.

**For a second, Mr Dursley didn't realise what he had seen – then he jerked his head around to look again. There was a tabby cat standing on the corner of Privet Drive, but there wasn't a map in sight. **

"It has to be, I mean what else could it be." Remus mumbled.

"I think its Minnie, isn't her animagus a tabby cat?" James speculated.

"But what would Minnie McGonagall be doing looking at the most boring family in all of England?" Sirius scoffed.

"Coincidence?" Peter shrugged.

"Highly doubt it…" Remus replied.

**What could he have been thinking of? It must have been a trick of the light. Mr Dursley blinked and stared at the cat. It stared back. As Mr Dursley drove around the corner and up the road, he watched the cat in his mirror. It was now reading the sign that said **_**Privet Drive **_**– no, looking at the sign; cats couldn't read maps or signs. Mr Dursley gave himself a shake and put the cat out of his mind. As he drove towards town he thought of nothing but a large order of drills that he was hoping to get that day. **

"Dursley needs to get a life." Peter said.

"Maybe he could order in one of those instead of the drills…" James chuckled.

**But on the edge of town, drills were driven out of his mind by something else. As he sat in the usual morning traffic jam, he couldn't help noticing that there seemed to be a lot of strangely dressed people about. People in cloaks.**

"Wizards." James and Sirius said in unison.

"We're not allowed to wear cloaks during the day." Peter said.

Remus just agreed, thinking of why these people would be wearing cloaks in broad daylight. But soon gave up and continued reading.

**Mr Dursley couldn't bear people dressed in funny clothes -**

"Well I can't bear people with ugly faces." Said James making the others laugh and while giving Sirius a high five.

**the getups you saw on young people. He supposed this was just some stupid young fashion. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and his eyes fell on a huddle of these weirdos standing quite close by. They were whispering excitedly together. Mr Dursley was enraged to see that a couple of them weren't young at all; why, that man had to be older than he was, and wearing an emerald green cloak! **

"Like the beautiful eyes of Lily Evans… How could he hate such a gorgeous colour?" James sighed dreamily.

Sirius and Remus both rolled their eyes at their friend.

**The nerve of him! But then it struck Mr Dursley that this was probably some silly stunt – these people were obviously collecting for something… yes that would be it. **

"Oh poor, poor muggles… So, so naïve." Sirius sighed, shaking his head slowly.

"Collecting something? Collecting for what?" Peter asked confused.

"Some kind of charity, muggles do a lot of street work for charities Wormtail." Remus asked, silently wondering how Peter didn't know about muggle charities.

**The traffic moved on and a few minutes later, Mr Dursley arrived at in the Grunnings car park, his mind back on drills. **

**Mr Dursley always sat with his back to the window in his office on the ninth floor. If he hadn't, he might have found it harder to concentrate on drills that morning. **_**He **_**didn't see the owls swooping past in broad daylight, though people down in the street did; they pointed and gazed open-mouthed as owl after owl sped overhead.**

"Something is definitely going on." James said, looking at his friends.

"Something big too, by the sounds of it… groups of owls flying around and people in cloaks all in broad daylight." Remus responded.

"I just think that Dursley needs more in his life than just drills, a little excitement… a bit of danger, or even just some bloody fun." Sirius exclaimed.

**Most of them had never seen an owl even at night-time. Mr Dursley however, had a perfectly normal, owl-free morning. He yelled at five different people. He made several important telephone calls and shouted a bit more. He was in a very good mood until lunch-time, when he thought he'd stretch his legs and walk across the road to buy himself a bun from the baker's opposite.**

"That's probably the only exercise Dursley does." James muttered.

**He'd forgotten all about the people in cloaks until he passed a group of them next to the baker's. He eyed them angrily as he passed. He didn't know why, but they made him uneasy. This lot were whispering excitedly, too, and he couldn't see a single collecting tin. It was on his way back past them, that he caught a few words of what they were saying.**

'**The Potters, that's right, that's what I heard –'**

'**-yes, their son, Harry'**

"HARRY!" Exclaimed Sirius, punching his fist in the air. James and Remus just looked at him blankly while Peter started bouncing up and down on the spot.

"What?" Sirius asked taken aback, "I'm just happy Harry's coming into the story… and it's not all Dursley." He continued rolling his eyes.

"So Harry is my son huh?" James said.

"Congratulations Prongs! You have bouncing baby boy!" Sirius responded slapping his best mate on the back.

"S-sounds like you're pretty famous too Prongs, I mean people talk about your family on the streets" Peter said looking up at James in amazement.

"Well, I think it's about time everyone stood back and realised my brilliance" James said slightly smugly.

**Mr Dursley stopped dead. Fear flooded him. He looked back at the whisperers as if he wanted to say something to them, but he thought better of it. **

**He dashed back across the road, hurried up to his office, snapped at his secretary not to disturb him, seized the telephone and had almost finished dialling his home number when he changed his mind. **

"Prongs, what did you do to them? They seem bloody afraid of your family." Remus asked.

James just shrugged in response, "Beats me Moony."

**He put the receiver back down and stroked his moustache, thinking… no, he was being stupid. Potter wasn't such an uncommon name. He was sure there were lots of people called Potter who had a son called Harry. Come to think of it, he wasn't even sure his nephew **_**was **_**called Harry. He'd never even seen the boy.**

"Some uncle he is..."Sirius scoffed.

"I'm glad he's never seen my son, I want him to be as 'unDursleyish' as possible." James replied mockingly.

**It might have been Harvey. Or Harold. There was no point in worrying Mrs Dursley, she always got so upset at any mention of her sister. He didn't blame her – if **_**he'd **_**had a sister like that … but all the same, those people in cloaks…**

**He found it a lot harder to concentrate on drills that afternoon and when he left the building at five o'clock, he was still so worried that he walked straight into someone just outside the door. **

'**Sorry,' he grunted, as the tiny old man stumbled and almost fell. **

"Wow that must have been hard…" mocked Remus.

"What?" Peter asked, not catching on.

"Apologising," Remus replied grinning.

**It was a few seconds before Mr Dursley realised that the man was wearing a violet cloak. He didn't seem at all upset at being almost knocked to the ground. On the contrary, his face split into a wide smile and he said in a squeaky voice that made passers-by stare: 'Don't be sorry, my dear sir, for nothing could upset me today! Rejoice, for You-Know-Who has gone at last! **

"Wait!" exclaimed James, "Voldemort's gone?"

Peter flinched at the mention of the foul name.

"Sorry Wormtail." James said apologising. "But that's brilliant!"

"Maybe your family has something to do with him dying Prongs." Sirius suggested, this made James raise his eyebrows in surprise.

"Padfoot has a point, I mean there are wizards talking about the Potters in the streets… Maybe you're the reason he's gone James. Or maybe it was Harry?" said Remus agreeing with Sirius.

**Even Muggles like yourself should be celebrating, this happy, happy day!'**

**And the old man hugged Mr Dursley around the middle and walked off. **

**Mr Dursley stood rooted to the spot. He had been hugged by a complete stranger. He also thought he had been called a Muggle, whatever that was. He was rattled. He hurried to his car and set off home, hoping he was imagining things, which he had never hoped before, because he didn't approve of imagination.**

"Well surprise, surprise…" Remus muttered.

**As he pulled into the driveway of number four, the first thing he saw = and it didn't improve his mood – was the tabby cat he'd spotted that morning. It was now sitting on his garden wall. He was sure it was the same one; it had the same markings around its eyes. **

'**Shoo!' said Mr Dursley loudly.**

**The cat didn't move. It just game him a stern look.**

"It's definitely McGonagall!" Said Sirius, with a firm nod.

"Yeah I mean what other cat gives people stern looks?" James agreed.

Remus also agreed, "And McGonagall has those markings around her eyes where her glasses usually are…"

But Peter was confused, "Why would she be sitting on a muggle's wall though?"

"Well if the Dursleys _are _related to Prongs somehow, it might have something to do with You-Know-Who." Replied Remus.

**Was this normal cat behaviour, Mr Dursley wondered. Trying to pull himself together, he let himself into the house. He was still determined not to mention anything to his wife.**

**Mrs Dursley had had a nice, normal day. She told him over dinner all about Mrs Next Door's problems with her daughter and how Dudley had learnt a new word ('Shan't')**

"Charming kid." Scoffed Sirius, rolling his eyes, "sounds exactly like his parents."

**Mr Dursley tried to act normally. When Dudley had been put to bed, he went into the living-room in time to catch the last report on the evening news. **

'**And finally, bird-watchers everywhere have reported that the nation's owls have been behaving very unusually today. Although owls normally hunt at night and are hardly ever seen in daylight, there have been hundreds of sightings of these birds flying in every direction since sunrise. Experts are unable to explain why the owls have suddenly changed their sleeping pattern.' The newsreader allowed himself a grin. 'Most mysterious. And now, over to Jim McGuffin with the weather. Going to be any more showers of owls tonight, Jim?'**

'**Well Ted,' said the weatherman. 'I don't know about that, but it's not only the owls that have been behaving oddly today. Viewers as far apart as Kent, Yorkshire and Dundee have been phoning in to tell me that instead of the rain I promised yesterday, they've had a downpour of shooting stars!**

Sirius and James looked at each other both having the same idea to use shooting stars to terrorise the school somehow.

"I'm thinking we use the great hall…" proposed Sirius.

"And maybe something could happen to the people below when the stars fall..." James suggested smirking at his best mate.

"Why don't we finish the details at dinner tonight?" Remus asked, he was actually excited by the idea, he liked working on and putting together the pranks that James and Sirius thought of, and Peter once again started bouncing up and down watching his friends plot another prank on the school. Sirius grabbed another bit of parchment and wrote down the idea so they wouldn't forget.

**Perhaps people have been celebrating Bonfire night early – it's not until next week, folks! But I can promise a wet one tonight!' **

**Mr Dursley sat frozen in his armchair. Shooting stars all over Britain? Owls flying by daylight? Mysterious people in cloaks all over the place? And a whisper, a whisper about the Potters…**

**Mrs Dursley came into the living-room carrying two cups of tea. It was no good. He'd have to say something to her. He cleared his throat nervously. 'Er – Petunia, dear – you haven't heard from your sister lately, have you?'**

James looked up at the name Petunia, "Isn't that the name of Evan's sister?"

"I think that's just wishful thinking on your part Prongs…" Sirius said, chuckling at James.

But Remus thought about it for a second, "Actually come to think of it, Lily does have an older sister named Petunia."

"You've got to be kidding… Moony I'm sure there are tons of muggles named Petunia it's probably just coincidence… right?" Sirius said, he felt bad for crushing his friend's hopes but Lily Evans hated James Potter, it was a well-known fact throughout Hogwarts.

But Remus shrugged and smiled at James, "You never know…"

**As he had expected, Mrs Dursley looked shocked and angry. After all, they normally pretended she didn't have a sister.**

'**No,' she said sharply. 'Why?'**

'**Funny stuff on the news,' Mr Dursley mumbled. 'Owls… shooting stars … and there were a lot of funny-looking people in town today…'**

'_**So?' **_**snapped Mrs Dursley.**

"She sounds as charming as he sounds good-looking." Mumbled Sirius, making the others chuckle.

'**Well, I just thought … maybe … it was something to do with… you know… **_**her lot.' **_

"Her lot?!" yelled James. "Well _her lot _is much bloody better than _your lot._"

Sirius nodded and glared at the book, Peter saw this and decided to do the same. Remus just gave James a look of questioning.

"C'mon Moony, you know what I meant," he sighed. "I didn't mean all wizards are better than all muggles… I'm sorry?" He added as a question at the end. Remus seemed to think this was ok and continued on.

**Mrs Dursley sipped her tea through pursed lips. Mr Dursley wondered whether he dared to tell her he'd heard the name 'Potter'. He decided he didn't dare. Instead he said, as casually as he could, 'Their son – he'd be about Dudley's age now, wouldn't he?'**

'**I suppose so,' said Mrs Dursley stiffly.**

'**What's his name again? Howard, isn't it?'**

'**Harry. Nasty, common name, if you ask me.'**

"Harry's better than Dudley. Dudley Dursley is a stupid name." Said Sirius, who once again glared at the book. His glaring made Remus a bit uncomfortable so he continued reading.

'**Oh yes,' said Mr Dursley, his heart sinking horribly. 'Yes, I quite agree.'**

**He didn't say another word on the subject as they went upstairs to bed. While Mrs Dursley was in the bathroom, Mr Dursley crept to the bedroom window and peered down into the front garden. The cat was still there. It was staring down Privet Drive as though it was waiting for something.**

**Was he imagining things? Could all this have anything to do with the Potters? If it did … if it got out that they were related to a pair of – well he didn't think he could bear it.**

**The Dursleys got into bed. Mrs Dursley fell asleep quickly but Mr Dursley lay awake, turning it all over in his mind. His last, comforting thought before he fell asleep was that even if the Potters **_**were **_**involved, there was no reason for them to come near him and Mrs. Dursley. The Potters knew very well what he and Petunia thought about them and their kind …**

"Well if it's the Petunia that's Lily's sister then she already knows very well what she thinks of our kind." Remus said grimacing. James, Sirius and Peter looked at Remus puzzled. "Lily told me that her sister considers her and the rest of us, freaks, and she calls Lily horrible names but most of the time she won't speak to her."

They all looked shocked, "That's awful. Lily Evans is one of the most beautiful, amazing people I've ever laid eyes on, she doesn't deserve _that."_ James said, making a silent vow that if he ever meet Petunia Dursley/Evans he'd give her a piece of his mind.

**He couldn't see how he and Petunia could get mixed up in anything that might be going on. He yawned and turned over. It couldn't affect **_**them…**_

**How very wrong he was.**

**Mr Dursley might have been drifting into an uneasy sleep, but the cat on the wall outside was showing no signs of sleepiness. It was sitting as still as a statue, its eyes fixed unblinkingly on the far corner of Privet rive. It didn't so much as quiver when a car door slammed in the next street, nor when two owls swooped overhead. In fact it was nearly midnight before the cat had moved at all. **

**A man appeared on the corner the cat had been watching, appeared so suddenly and silently you'd have thought he'd just popped out of the ground. The cat's tail twitched and its eyes narrowed. **

**Nothing like this man had ever been seen in Privet Drive. He was tall, thin and very old, judging by the silver of his hair and beard, which were both long enough to tuck into his belt.**

"DUMBLEDORE!" Exclaimed James and Sirius, both sharing identical grins.

"Maybe _he _can explain what's going on." Said James, the foursome started to grow anxious.

**He was wearing long robes, a purple cloak which swept the ground and high-heeled buckled boots. His eyes were light, bright and sparkling behind half-moon spectacles and his nose was very long and crooked, as though it had been broken at least twice. This man's name was Albus Dumbledore.**

James and Sirius cheered at Albus Dumbledore's name. Remus glared, which silenced them so he could keep reading.

**Albus Dumbledore**

The boys again cheered, just to annoy Remus, but just as they were about to he hit them both on the back of the head

**Didn't seem to realise that he had just arrived in a street where everything from his name to his boots was unwelcome. He was busy rummaging in his cloak, looking for something. But he did seem to realise he was being watched, because he looked up suddenly at the cat, which was still staring at him from the other side of the street. For some reason, the sight of the cat seemed to amuse him. He chuckled and muttered, 'I should have known.'**

**He had found what he was looking for in his inside pocket. It seemed to be a silver cigarette lighter. He flicked it open, held it up in the air and clicked it. The nearest street lamp went out with a little pop.**

Sirius looked at the book wide eyed, "I gotta get me one of those," he turned and looked at James, "imagine how much that would help us with pranks." They both grinned, running through scenarios in their heads.

"There's only one of them and it's Dumbledore's, it's called a put-Outer" Remus told them.

**He clicked it again – the next lamp flickered into the darkness. Twelve times he clicked the Put-Outer, until the only lights left in the whole street were two tiny pinpricks in the distance, which were the eyes of them cat watching him. If anyone looked out their window now, even beady-eyed Mrs. Dursley, they wouldn't be able to see anything that was happening down on the pavement. Dumbledore slipped the Put-Outer back inside his cloak and set off down the street towards number four, where he sat down on the wall next to the cat. He didn't look at it, but after a moment he spoke to it.**

'**Fancy seeing you here, Professor McGonagall.'**

"MCGONAGALL!" Sirius exclaimed giving James a high-five. "We know Minnie McGonagall like the back of our hands."

Remus smirked, "And this a good thing I presume?"

"Moony, you know that old muggle saying, keep your friends close and your enemies closer…" James replied. "Well not that we hate ol' McGonagall of course" he said chuckling.

"But if McGonagall was waiting for Dumbledore, why is he there?" Asked Peter, who was slightly confused.

Sirius shrugged in response to Peter's question, which allowed Remus to continue reading and in turn eventually answer Peter's question.

**He turned to smile at the tabby, but it had gone. Instead he was smiling at a rather severe looking woman who was wearing square glasses exactly the shape of the markings the cat had around its eyes. She, too, was wearing a cloak, an emerald one. Her black hair was drawn in tight bun. She looked distinctly ruffled.**

'**How did you know it was me?' she asked. **

'**My dear Professor, I've never seen a cat sit so stiffly.'**

'**You'd be stiff if you'd been sitting on a brick wall all day,' said Professor McGonagall.**

'**All day? When you could have been celebrating? I must have passed a dozen feasts and parties on my way here.'**

"McGonagall has never been one for a party." Said James, smiling.

**Professor McGonagall sniffed angrily. **

'**Oh yes, everyone's celebrating, all right,' she said impatiently. **

'**You'd think they'd be a bit more careful, but no – even the Muggles have noticed something's going on. It was on their news.' She jerked her head back to the Dursleys' dark living-room window. 'I heard it. Flocks of owls… shooting stars… Well, they're not completely stupid. They were bound to notice something. Shooting stars down in Kent – I'll bet that was Dedalus Diggle. He never had much sense.'**

"Diggle… Isn't he that kid that's in Hufflepuff?" Asked Sirius.

Remus nodded in agreement, "Yep, year below us."

'**You can't blame him,' said Dumbledore gently. 'We've had precious little to celebrate for eleven years.'**

'**I know that,' said Professor McGonagall irritably. 'But that's no reason to lose our heads. People are being downright careless, out on the streets in broad daylight, not even dressed in Muggle clothes, swapping rumours.'**

**She threw a sharp, sideway glance at Dumbledore here, as though hoping he was going to tell her something, but he didn't so she went on: 'A fine thing it would be if, on the very day You-Know-Who seems to have to disappeared as last, the Muggles found out about us all. I suppose he really **_**has **_**gone, Dumbledore."**

They all held their breath, the thought of Voldemort disappearing forever meant so much to them, as at the moment the threat of him was very real.

'**It certainly seems so,' said Dumbledore. 'We have so much to be thankful for. Would you care for a sherbet lemon?'**

"A what?" Asked Peter.

"A sherbet lemon is a muggle sweet, they're really good." Replied James.

"You've had one?" Remus asked surprised.

James nodded, "Ivy gave me one once."

Ivy Williams was a muggle-born and best friend of Lily Evans, was really close with Remus Lupin and by extension became friends with all the Marauders.

'**A **_**what?'**_

**A sherbet lemon. They're a muggle sweet I'm rather fond of.'**

'**No thank you,' said Professor McGonagall coldly, as though she didn't think this was the moment for sherbet lemons. 'As I say, even if You-Know-Who **_**has **_**gone-'**

'**My dear Professor, surely a sensible person like yourself can call him by his name? All this "You-Know-Who" nonsense – for eleven years I have been trying to persuade people to call him by his proper name: **_**Voldemort.'**_

Peter was the only one who flinched at the sound of the name.

"I'm sorry Wormtail, I am but you're going to have to get used to it because I'm guessing it's going to come up a lot' Remus apologised.

**Professor McGonagall flinched, but Dumbledore, who was unstacking two sherbet lemons, seemed not to notice. 'It all gets so confusing if we keep saying "You-Know-Who". I have never seen any reason to be frightened of saying Voldemort's name.'**

'**I know you haven't,' said Professor McGonagall, sounding half exasperated, half admiring. 'But you're different. Everyone knows you're the only one You-Know – oh, all right, **_**Voldemort **_**was frightened of.'**

'**You flatter me,' said Dumbledore calmly. "Voldemort had powers I will never have.'**

'**Only because you're too – well – **_**noble **_**to use them.'**

'**It's lucky it's dark. I haven't blushed so much since Madam Pomfrey told me she liked my new earmuffs.'**

The foursome laughed at this. They found it hard to imagine Dumbledore blushing but the comment was something similar to what you'd normally hear the headmaster say.

**Professor McGonagall shot a sharp look at Dumbledore and said, 'The owls are nothing to the **_**rumours **_**that are flying around. You know what everyone's saying? About why he's disappeared? About what finally stopped him?'**

**It seemed that Professor McGonagall had reached the point she was most anxious to discuss, the real reason she had been waiting on a cold, hard wall all day, for neither as a cat nor as a woman had she fixed Dumbledore with such a piercing stare as she did now. It was plain that whatever 'everyone' was saying, she was not going to believe it until Dumbledore told her it was true. Dumbledore, however, was choosing another sherbet lemon and did not answer.**

'**What they're **_**saying,' **_**she pressed on, 'is that last night Voldemort turned up in Godric's Hollow. He went to find the Potters. The rumour is that Lily and James Potter are – are- that they're – **_**dead.'**_

At that moment, everything went silent. You could have heard a pin drop it was so quiet. James went pale, Sirius closed his eyes and took deep breaths to stop himself from going pale as well, Remus just looked at the book, not quite thinking it could be true and Peter just shook his head in disbelief.

"No…No…Me and… and Lily…dead?" James murmured, he didn't know what to do, what do you do when you find out about your own death. "Well I hope I died honorably, defending the love of my life and my son."

Sirius wanted to help his friend out, "But look Prongs, you do get Evans in the end after all. You got married and had a kid." Said Sirius, hugging James.

"Sirius is right," Remus agreed. "James you get everything you ever wanted. And look at it this way, if we know about it, there is a chance we can stop it happening now." He smiled at James and Peter nodded frantically in agreement.

James sighed, "Padfoot, Moony you're right. I get Evans. Lily Evans marries me. We get married. Lily Potter… Wow…" He smiled and sighed again.

"Well at least we have some of the old Prongs back." Chuckled Sirius. But Remus gave Sirius a worried look, which he returned; they were still concerned about James.

**Dumbledore bowed his head and Professor McGonagall gasped. **

'**Lily and James… I can't believe it… I didn't want to believe it… Oh, Albus…'**

**Dumbledore reached out and patted her on the shoulder. 'I know… I know…' he said heavily.**

The four again looked very grave. They looked at each other but didn't know what to say. Until James looked at Sirius, "Padfoot, if this does happen, you'll look after Harry won't you. All of you?' He looked at each of his friends.

"Prongs, it won't happen again. But if it does, of course we will." Sirius replied quietly. They shared a hug before Remus continued.

**Professor McGonagall's voice trembled as she went on. 'That's not all. They're saying he tried to kill the Potter's son, Harry.'**

"WHAT?!" James yelled. "Not Harry too! I will not let Voldemort-"

Peter flinched, James saw this out of the corner of his eye but ignored it. "-take Lily _and _Harry's lives. It's not fair."

"Calm down Prongs, let me continue. It's not bad news." Remus said trying to soothe James.

**But – he couldn't. He couldn't kill that little boy. No one knows why, or how, but they're saying that when he couldn't kill Harry Potter, Voldemort's power somehow broke – and that's why he's gone. **

James relaxed again. "Wow, my son stopped Voldemort…" he said in astonishment. They were all amazed that James' son could do something so powerful.

**Dumbledore nodded glumly.**

'**It's – it's **_**true**_**?' faltered Professor McGonagall. 'After all he's done … all the people he's killed … he couldn't kill a little boy? It's just so astounding … of all the things to stop him… but how in the name of heaven did Harry survive?'**

'**We can only guess,' Said Dumbledore. 'We may never know.'**

James looked a bit proud of the boy who would one day be his son.

"Sounds like he's pretty powerful Prongs." Observed Remus.

James grinned smugly at him, "Well he is _my _son after all…"

**Professor McGonagall pulled out a lace handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes beneath her spectacles. Dumbledore gave a great sniff as he took a golden watch from his pocket and examined it. It had twelve hands but no numbers; instead, little planets were moving around the edge. It must have made sense to Dumbledore, though, because he put it back in his pocket and said, 'Hagrid's late.**

"HAGRID!" James and Sirius cheered loudly. This made Remus and Peter chuckle but then Remus glared slightly at the pair. "Are you two going to yell out the name of _every_one you recognise in these books?"

The pair just looked at each other, "Maybe…"James said.

"Maybe not" Sirius finished.

**I suppose it was he who told you I'd be here, by the way?'**

'**Yes,' said Professor McGonagall. 'And I don't suppose you're going to tell me **_**why**_** you're here, of all places?'**

"Finally!" Exclaimed Peter, throwing his arms in the air.

'**I've come to bring Harry to his aunt and uncle. They're the only family he has left now.'**

"WHAT?!" James yelled… again. "Dumbledore you are _not _leaving my son with… with those… people! They're horrible!" James glared at the book.

"They aren't even family!" Remus exclaimed.

Sirius agreed, "We're family more than the '_Dursleys.' _They _aren't _family!"

'**You don't mean – you **_**can't**_** mean the people who live **_**here?' **_**cried Professor McGonagall, jumping to her feet and pointing at number four.**

They all cheered.

"You tell 'im, Minnie!" said Sirius, grinning. "I've never been so proud of her." He said wiping away a fake tear.

'**Dumbledore – you can't. I've been watching them all day. You couldn't find two people who are less like us. And they've got this son – I saw him kicking his mother all the way up the street, screaming for sweets. Harry Potter come live here!'**

"That kid is such a monster!" Remus cried.

"Who could blame him, I mean look at his parents…"Sirius replied rolling his eyes. "He can't make Harry live here, it's inhumane!"

"A crime against humanity!" James agreed, punching his fist in the air.

'**It's the best place for him,' Dumbledore said firmly. 'His aunt and uncle will be able to explain everything when he's older. I've written them a letter.'**

'**A letter?' repeated Professor McGonagall faintly, sitting back down on the wall. 'Really Dumbledore, you think you can explain all this in a letter? These people will never understand him! He'll be famous – a legend – I wouldn't be surprised if today was known as Harry Potter day in future – there will be books written about Harry – every child in our world will know his name!'**

The foursome was once again in awe of what McGonagall had said.

"A legend…" Peter whispered.

"Harry Potter day…" James muttered.

"Maybe it is best for Harry to grow up with Muggles if this is what Harry would have grown up with." Thought Remus.

Sirius disagreed slightly, "But with Dursley… Really?"

"I do agree that a better family could be chosen." Said Remus.

'**Exactly,' said Dumbledore, looking very seriously over the top of his half-moon glasses. 'It would be enough to turn any boy's head. Famous before he can walk and talk! Famous for something he won't even remember! Can't you see how much better off he'll be, growing up away from all that until he's ready to take it?'**

"Well his father is arrogant enough for the both of them." Said Remus, smirking. Sirius and Peter laughed and James just grinned in response.

**Professor McGonagall opened her mouth, changed her mind, swallowed and then said, 'Yes – yes, you're right, of course.**

"Wow, she backed down," said James quietly.

"Never thought I'd see the day that would happen." Agreed Sirius.

**But how is the boy getting here, Dumbledore?' She eyed his cloak suddenly as though she thought he might be hiding Harry underneath it.**

'**Hagrid's bringing him.'**

'**You think it - **_**wise**_** - to trust Hagrid with something as important as this?'**

'**I would trust Hagrid with my life,' said Dumbledore.**

'**I'm not saying his heart isn't in the right place,' said Professor McGonagall grudgingly, "but you can't pretend he's not careless. He does tend to - what was that?"**

**A low rumbling sound had broken the silence around them.**

"It me on my motorbike coming to rescue Harry from the horrible Muggles." Said Sirius proudly.

"Not that bloody motorbike again." Remus groaned loudly.

"I'm going to get one, one day Moony!" He said shaking his finger at Remus, "And you're going to be so jealous."

Remus just rolled his eyes.

**It grew steadily louder as they looked up and down the street for some sign of a headlight; it swelled to a roar as they both looked up at the sky - and a huge motorbike fell out of the air and landed on the road in front of them.**

**If the motorbike was huge, it was nothing to the man sitting astride it. He was almost twice as tall as a normal man and at least five times as wide. He looked simply too big to be allowed, and so wild - long tangles of bushy black hair and beard hid most of his face, he had hands the size of dustbin lids and his feet in their leather boots were like baby dolphins. In his vast muscular arms he was holding a bundle of blankets.**

"HAGRID!" All four of them cheered. Even Remus joined in this time.

**"Hagrid," said Dumbledore, sounding relieved. "At last. And where did you get that motorbike?"**

**"Borrowed it, Professor Dumbledore, sir," said the giant, climbing carefully off the motorbike as he spoke. "Young Sirius Black lent it me."**

Sirius jumped off the bed they were sitting on and jumped around punching his fists in the air, "I got my motorbike!" He exclaimed. "And it FLIES!"

"Wow, Prongs didn't even get that excited when he found out he was married to Lily" Piped up Peter while they watched Sirius jump around.

**I've got him, sir."**

**"No problems, were there?"**

**"No, sir - house was almost destroyed but I got him out all right before the Muggles started swarmin' around. He fell asleep as we were flyin' over Bristol."**

**Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall bent forward over the bundle of blankets. Inside, just visible, was a baby boy, fast asleep. Under a tuft of jet-black hair over his forehead they could see a curiously shaped cut, like a bolt of lightning.**

"He's got your hair Prongsy boy!" Said Sirius, ruffling James' hair.

"We knew that Sirius." Remus said, pointing to the front cover of the novel.

Sirius stopped what he was doing and smiled sheepishly , "Oh… right"

**"Is that where - ?" whispered Professor McGonagall.**

**"Yes," said Dumbledore. "He'll have that scar for ever."**

"That means everywhere he goes people are going to recognize him…"James pointed out, "Damn that's going to be awful."

"But on the upside, it sounds like a pretty cool looking scar." Sirius commented.

**"Couldn't you do something about it, Dumbledore?"**

**"Even if I could, I wouldn't. Scars can come in useful. I have one myself above my left knee which is a perfect map of the London Underground. **

**Well - give him here, Hagrid - we'd better get this over with."**

**Dumbledore took Harry in his arms and turned towards the Dursleys' house.**

**"Could I - could I say goodbye to him, sir?" asked Hagrid.**

**He bent his great shaggy head over Harry and gave him what must have been a very scratchy, whiskery kiss.**

James looked at the book very gratefully, "I love Hagrid, he's the best… really."

They all smiled in agreement

**Then, suddenly, Hagrid let out a howl like a wounded dog.**

"I resent that comparison!" Exclaimed Sirius.

James, this time, hit Sirius in the face with a pillow to shut him up.

**"Shhh!" hissed Professor McGonagall. "You'll wake the Muggles!"**

**"S-s-sorry," sobbed Hagrid, taking out a large spotted handkerchief and burying his face in it. "But I c-c-can't stand it - Lily an' James dead - an' poor little Harry off ter live with Muggles -"**

**"Yes, yes, it's all very sad, but get a grip on yourself, Hagrid, or we'll be found," Professor McGonagall whispered, patting Hagrid gingerly on the arm as Dumbledore stepped over the low garden wall and walked to the front door.**

"He's not exactly the quietest of people is he?" Remus asked.

"Well he's half giant, none of them are quiet." Sirius replied.

**He laid Harry gently on the doorstep, took a letter out of his cloak, tucked it inside Harry's blankets and then came back to the other two. For a full minute the three of them stood and looked at the little bundle; Hagrid's shoulders shook, Professor McGonagall blinked furiously and the twinkling light that usually shone from Dumbledore's eyes seemed to have gone out.**

They all looked at each other solemnly, taking a moment before continuing on.

"Poor Harry, he has no idea what he's going to become." Remus murmured.

"Or the fact he just lost both of his parents." Peter continued.

**"Well," said Dumbledore finally, "that's that. We've no business staying here. We may as well go and join the celebrations."**

**Yeah," said Hagrid in a very muffled voice. "I'll be takin' Sirius his bike back. G'night, Professor McGonagall - Professor Dumbledore, sir."**

"Yeah, I want my bike back Hagrid! Then I can go rescue Harry from the dreadful Dursleys" said Sirius, who proceeded to pretend to ride his motorbike.

**Wiping his streaming eyes on his jacket sleeve, Hagrid swung himself on to the motorbike and kicked the engine into life; with a roar it rose into the air and off into the night.**

**"I shall see you soon, I expect, Professor McGonagall," said Dumbledore, nodding to her. Professor McGonagall blew her nose in reply****.**

"Your death seems to have really gotten to McGonagall." Commented Peter.

"What can I say… I knew Minnie loved me." James replied smugly, but the look on his face told them all he was touched by the reaction Professor McGonagall had had.

**Dumbledore turned and walked back down the street. On the corner he stopped and took out the silver Put-Outer. He clicked it once and twelve balls of light sped back to their street lamps so that Privet Drive glowed suddenly orange and he could make out a tabby cat slinking around the corner at the other end of the street.**

**He could just see the bundle of blankets on the step of number four. "Good luck, Harry," he murmured.**

"He's gonna need it." Muttered Remus.

**He turned on his heel and with a swish of his cloak he was gone.**

**A breeze ruffled the neat hedges of Privet Drive, which lay silent and tidy under the inky sky, the very last place you would expect astonishing things to happen. Harry Potter rolled over inside his blankets without waking up. One small hand closed on the letter beside him and he slept on, not knowing he was special, not knowing he was famous, not knowing he would be woken in a few hours' time by Mrs. Dursley's scream as she opened the front door to put out the milk bottles, nor that he would spend the next few weeks being prodded and pinched by his cousin Dudley **

They all glared at the book. "I swear if that boy causes Harry any trouble… I'm gonna…" Sirius threatened.

"You and me both Padfoot." James agreed.

**...He couldn't know that at this very moment, people meeting in secret all over the country were holding up their glasses and saying in hushed voices: "To Harry Potter - the boy who lived!"**

"Ohhhh, Ok, so the boy who lived isn't such a stupid nickname afterall," said Sirius, retracting what he said when they started the chapter. James looked at his watch then at the other three, "It's only three o'clock, one more chapter?" They all nodded in response…


	2. Chapter 2: The Vanishing Glass

Hey guys,

I'm glad you liked the last chapter, I hope this one is just as good.

Just wondering what did you all think of Half Blood Prince? I saw it yesterday and I think it's one of the best movies done so far. I do think they could have had more of the Harry/Ginny relationship in there and at least had a bit more of a hint that Remus and Tonks were together other than two lines Tonks said. But I thought it was well acted by the whole cast. And I'm going to stop now before I begin talking about every part of the movie =]

Thanks for those who left reviews, it's always nice to read them. haha

Disclaimer: I don't own anything Harry Potter. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone isn't mine nor are any characters you recognize.

* * *

**Chapter Two: The Vanishing Glass **or The Dastardly Dursleys

_James looked at his watch then at the other three, "It's only three o'clock, one more chapter?" They all nodded in response…_

"Anyone else up to reading the next chapter?" Remus said, placing the book back in the middle of the group. James picked up the book and flicked it back open to chapter two.

**The Vanishing Glass**

"Dun, dun, dunnnn." Sirius said dramatically, as he made hand gestures that were as equally dramatic.

"Padfoot are you going to make a comment on _every _chapter name?" Remus sighed exasperated. Sirius just grinned in response, which James took as his cue to start reading.

**Nearly ten years had passed since the Dursleys had woken up to find their nephew on the front step, but Privet Drive had hardly changed at all. The sun rose on the same tidy front gardens and lit up the brass number four on the Dursleys' front door; it crept into their living-room, which was almost exactly the same as it had been on the night when Mr Dursley had seen that fateful news report about the owls. Only the photographs on the mantelpiece really showed how much time had passed. Ten years ago, there had been lots of pictures of what looked like a large pink beach ball wearing different coloured bobble hats –**

The group laughed at the thought of those photographs. Sirius grabbed a hat from his trunk and put it on James, who proceeded to puff out his cheeks and imitate Dudley.

**But Dudley Dursley was no longer a baby, and now the photographs showed a large, blond boy riding his first bicycle, on a roundabout at the fair, playing a computer game with his father, being hugged and kissed by his mother. The room held no sign at all that another boy lived in the house. **

"I swear they better be treating him right," said James, threatening the book.

"I'll go after them if they aren't Prongs. But on the upside, it looks like Dudley eventually grew out of his beach ball likeness," Sirius chuckled.

"What's a computer?" Peter asked, ignoring the other two while looking over at Remus.

"It's a muggle device, they're huge contraptions used in businesses. I'm guessing in Harry's time they've improved, gotten smaller." Remus replied shrugging.

**Yet Harry Potter was still there, asleep at the moment, but not for long. His Aunt Petunia was awake and it was her shrill voice which made the first noise of the day.**

'**Up! Get up! Now!'**

"At least she's still the pleasant woman we saw in the last chapter," said James, rolling his eyes.

"Oh how I'd love to wake up to that noise in the morning," muttered Remus mockingly.

"I've woken up to that. Not Petunia obviously, but my beloved mother used to wake me like that," scoffed Sirius.

**Harry woke with a start. His aunt rapped on the door again.**

'**Up!' she screeched. Harry heard her walking towards the kitchen and then the sound of the frying pan being put on the cooker. He rolled on to his back and tried to remember the dream he was having. It had been a good one. There had been a flying motorbike in it. He had a funny feeling he'd had the same dream before. **

"See Moony, even Harry thinks my motorbike is cool!" Exclaimed Sirius, Remus glared at him in response.

**His aunt was back outside the door.**

'**Are you up yet?' she demanded.**

'**Nearly,' said Harry.**

'**Well get a move on, I want you to look after the bacon. And don't you dare let it burn, I want everything perfect on Duddy's birthday'**

**Harry groaned. **

'**What did you say?' his aunt snapped through the door. **

'**Nothing, nothing…'**

**Dudley's birthday – how could he have forgotten? Harry got slowly out of bed and started looking for socks. He found a pair under his bed and after pulling a spider off one of them, put them on. Harry was used to spiders, because the cupboard under the stairs was full of them, and that was where he slept. **

The four looked at each other shocked.

"The cupboard under the stairs?" James whispered, "They put my boy in the cupboard under the STAIRS?"

"Apparently it's too much effort to give him a proper bedroom," muttered Sirius, rolling his eyes in disgust.

Remus was also glaring at the book and Peter just looked at them nervously, thinking that they might explode at any minute.

**When he was dressed he went down the hall into the kitchen. The table was almost hidden beneath all Dudley's birthday presents. It looked as though Dudley had got the new computer he wanted, not to mention a second television and the racing bike.**

"Wow, Those things are expensive. They sure spoil him huh?." Asked Remus sarcastically.

"I wonder what they get Harry for his birthday?" Wondered Peter. "I mean if they get that for Dudley…"

James laughed bitterly, "Wormtail, Harry probably doesn't get anything."

"They probably don't even realise he has a birthday." Sirus added.

**Exactly why Dudley wanted a racing bike was a mystery to Harry, as Dudley was very fat and hated exercise – unless of course it involved punching somebody. Dudley's favourite punch-bag was Harry, but he couldn't often catch him. Harry didn't look it, but he was very fast.**

"This is going to keep getting worse isn't it?" groaned James.

Remus nodded, "It's probably not going to get much better."

**Perhaps it was something to do with living in a dark cupboard, but Harry had always been small and skinny for his age. He looked even smaller and skinnier than he really was because of all he had to wear were some old clothes of Dudley's and Dudley was about four times bigger than he was. **

"Not even proper clothes!" Exclaimed Sirius. "Damn these Dursley's are cheap." He muttered frustrated.

**Harry had a thin face, knobbly knees, black hair and bright-green eyes. He wore round glasses held together with a lot of Sellotape because of all the times Dudley had punched him on the nose. The only thing Harry liked about his own appearance was a very thin scar on his forehead which was shaped like a bolt of lightning. He had had it as long as he could remember and the first question he could ever remember asking his Aunt Petunia was how he had got it. **

'**In the car crash when your parents died,' she had said. 'And don't ask questions.'**

"A CAR CRASH?!" James yelled. "Lily and I didn't die in a car crash and you know it! Stupid woman!" He was calming himself down, whilst Peter, who had been watching him, slowly moved away from James.

"She has no right to lie to Harry like that. He should know about how his parents died," Remus commented, shocked that someone could deceive a little boy like that.

_**Don't ask questions **_**– that was the first rule for a quiet life with the Dursleys.**

**Uncle Vernon entered the kitchen as Harry was turning over the bacon.**

'**Comb your hair!' he barked, by way of a morning greeting.**

**About once a week, Uncle Vernon looked over the top of his newspaper and shouted that Harry needed a haircut. **

"It's not his fault," whined James. "It's just the way it grows."

They laughed as Sirius reached over and ruffled James's hair, making it even messier.

**Harry must have had more haircuts than the rest of the boys in his class put together, but it made no difference, his hair simply grew that way – all over the place.**

**Harry was frying eggs by the time Dudley arrived in the kitchen with his mother. Dudley looked a lot like Uncle Vernon. He had a large, pink face, not much neck, small watery blue eyes and thick, blond hair that lay smoothly on his thick, fat head. Aunt Petunia often said that Dudley looked like a baby angel – **

The foursome laughed.

"Honestly, what angels has she been looking at?" scoffed Sirius.

**Harry often said that Dudley looked like a pig in a wig. **

They laughed even harder at this.

"Harry's definitely got some Marauder in him," remarked James as he grinned at his friends.

"Mate, give him a bit of training and he could be excellent," replied Sirius.

**Harry put the eggs and bacon on the table, which was difficult as there wasn't much room. Dudley, meanwhile, was counting his presents. His face fell. **

'**Thirty-six,' he said, looking up at his mother and father. 'That's two less than last year.'**

'**Darling, you haven't counted Auntie Marge's present, see, it's here under this big one from Mummy and Daddy.'**

"Mummy and Daddy?" laughed Remus, "I haven't called my parents that since I was about six."

"Little Duddy needs his Mummy and Daddy," mocked Sirius in a childlike voice.

'**All right, thirty-seven then,' said Dudley, going red in the face. Harry, who could see a huge Dudley tantrum coming on, began wolfing down his bacon as fast as possible in case Dudley turned the table over.**

**Aunt Petunia obviously sensed danger too, because she said quickly, 'And today we'll buy you another **_**two **_**presents. Is that all right?'**

"Two _more _presents?" asked Peter, shocked.

**Dudley thought for a moment. It looked like hard work. Finally he said slowly, 'So I'll have thirty… thirty…'**

'**Thirty-nine, sweetums,' said Aunt Petunia.**

Sirius and James laughed. "What little Duddy can't add by himself?"

"Two much work for that tiny brain of his," James said smirking.

'**Oh.' Dudley sat down heavily and grabbed the nearest parcel. 'All right then.'**

**Uncle Vernon chuckled.**

'**Little tyke wants his money's worth, just like his father. 'Atta boy, Dudley!' He ruffled Dudley's hair.**

**At that moment the telephone rang and Aunt Petunia went to answer it while Harry and Uncle Vernon watched Dudley unwrap the racing bike, a cine-camera, a remote control aeroplane, sixteen new computer games and a video recorder. He was ripping the paper off a gold wristwatch when Aunt Petunia came back from the telephone looking both angry and worried. **

'**Bad news, Vernon,' she said. 'Mrs Figg's broken her leg. She can't take him.' **

Remus sighed, "They do realise he has a name, right?"

"It's Harry. H-A-R-R-Y. Haaaaaaaarry," Sirius said, looking at the book wide-eyed trying to explain.

**She jerked her head in Harry's direction.**

**Dudley's mouth fell open in horror but Harry's heart gave a leap. Every year on Dudley's birthday his parents took him and a friend out for the day, to adventure parks, hamburger bars or the cinema. Every year, Harry was left behind with Mrs Figg, a mad old lady who lived two streets away. Harry hated it there. The whole house smelled like cabbage and Mrs Figg made him look at photographs of all the cats she ever owned.**

"Sounds thrilling," muttered Remus.

"That's the ultimate punishment, plus everyone know dogs are better anyway," agreed Sirius.

'**Now what?' said Aunt Petunia, looking furiously at Harry as though he'd planned this. Harry knew he ought to feel sorry that Mrs Figg had broken her leg, but it wasn't easy when he reminded himself it would be a whole year before he had to look at Tibbles, Snowy, Mr Paws and Tufty again. **

'**We could phone Marge,' Uncle Vernon suggested.**

'**Don't be silly, Vernon, she hates the boy.'**

**The Dursleys often spoke about Harry like this, as though he wasn't there – or rather, as though he was something very nasty that couldn't understand them, like a slug. **

'**What about what's-her-name, your friend – Yvonne?'**

'**On holiday in Majorca,' snapped Aunt Petunia.**

'**You could just leave me here,' Harry put in hopefully (he'd be able to watch what he wanted on television for a change and maybe even have a go on Dudley's computer).**

**Aunt Petunia looked as though she'd just swallowed a lemon. **

'**And come back and find the house in ruins?' she snarled. **

"Honestly, they should just trust him!" Exclaimed Remus, "Give Harry a chance. He might prove you wrong!"

'**I won't blow up the house,' said Harry, but they weren't listening.**

'**I suppose we could take him to the zoo,' said Aunt Petunia slowly, '…and leave him in the car…'**

'**That car's new, he's not sitting in it alone…'**

**Dudley began crying loudly. In fact, he wasn't really crying, it had been years since he really cried, but he knew that if he screwed up his face and wailed, his mother would give him anything he wanted. **

'**Dinky Duddydums,**

The group burst into fits of laughter.

"Dinky Duddydums!" gasped James through fits of laughter.

"That's amazing!" laughed Sirius.

**Don't cry, Mummy won't let him spoil your special day!' she cried, flinging her arms around him.**

'**I… don't…want… him…t-t-to come!' Dudley yelled between huge pretend sobs. 'He always sp-spoils everything!' He shot Harry a nasty grin through the gaps in his mother's arms. **

**Just then, the doorbell rang – 'Oh, Good Lord, they're here!' said Aunt Petunia frantically – and a moment later, Dudley's best friend, Piers Polkiss, walked in with his mother. Piers was a scrawny boy with a face like a rat.**

This time Peter was the one to frown at the book, "I'm offended. Rats are better than what him."

**He was usually the one who held people's arms behind their backs while Dudley hit them. Dudley stopped pretending to cry at once. **

"It's only cool to cry around Mummy," said James smirking.

**Half an hour later, Harry, who couldn't believe his luck, was sitting in the back of the Dursleys' car with Piers and Dudley, on the way to the zoo for the first time in his life. His aunt and uncle hadn't been able to think of anything else to do with him, but before they'd left, Uncle Vernon had taken Harry aside.**

'**I'm warning you,' he had said, putting his large purple face right up close to Harry's. 'I'm warning you now, boy – any funny business, anything at all – and you'll be in that cupboard from now until Christmas.'**

"I swear Prongs that Moony, Wormtail and I will go and get Harry and hex those Dursleys from here to France," promised Sirius.

'**I'm not going to do anything,' said Harry, 'honestly…'**

**But Uncle Vernon didn't believe him. No one ever did. The problem was, strange things often happened around Harry and it was just no good telling the Dursleys he didn't make them happen. **

"Harry it's nothing to be ashamed of, it happens to every underage wizard. It happened to all of us,' explained Remus soothingly.

James shook his head slowly, "Harry doesn't know what's happening to him because those bloody Dursleys haven't said anything."

"They probably want to shake the magic out of him, make him a Muggle," said Sirius.

**Once, Aunt Petunia, tired of Harry coming back from the barber's looking as though he hadn't been at all, had taken a pair of kitchen scissors and cut his hair so short he was almost bald except for his fringe, which she left 'to hide that horrible scar'. Dudley laughed himself silly at Harry, who spent a sleepless night imagining school the next day, where he was already laughed at for his baggy clothes and sellotaped glasses. Next morning, however, he had got up to find his hair exactly as it had been before Aunt Petunia had sheared it off. He had been given a week in his cupboard for this, even though he had tried to explain that he **_**couldn't **_**explain how it had grown back so quickly.**

"I told you he can't help it," whined James again. "It's hereditary," he slightly pouted trying to get sympathy from his friends, who just laughed.

**Another time, Aunt Petunia had been trying to force him into a revolting old jumper of Dudley's (brown with orange bobbles). The harder she tried to pull it over his head, the smaller it seemed to become, until finally it might have fitted a glove puppet, but certainly wouldn't fit Harry. Aunt Petunia had decided it must have shrunk in the wash and, to his great relief, Harry wasn't punished.**

"Why couldn't she do that all the time?" asked Peter.

"Who knows, Wormtail," replied Remus.

Peter scoffed, "Well she should."

**On the other hand, he'd gotten into terrible trouble for being found on the roof of the school kitchens. Dudley's gang had been chasing him as usual when, as much to Harry's surprise as anyone else's, there he was sitting on the chimney. The Dursley's had received a very angry letter from Harry's headmistress telling them Harry had been climbing school buildings. But all he'd tried to do (as he shouted at Uncle Vernon through the locked door of his cupboard) was jump behind the big trash cans outside the kitchen doors. Harry supposed that the wind must have caught him in mid-jump.**

"Prongs!" Sirius exclaimed, "Your son can apparate!"

James beamed at this, "He has his father's magical talent."

**But today, nothing was going to go wrong. It was even worth being with Dudley and Piers to be spending the day somewhere that wasn't school, his cupboard, or Mrs. Fig's cabbage-smelling living room.**

 **While he drove, Uncle Vernon complained to Aunt Petunia. He liked to complain about things: people at work, Harry, the council, Harry, the bank, and Harry were just a few of his favorite subjects.**

"Wow, just when I thought he was exciting already, he goes one step further," remarked Remus sarcastically.

"He's a wild one, he is," chuckled James.

**This morning, it was motorcycles. "...roaring along like maniacs, the young hoodlums," he said, as a motorcycle overtook them.**

"There is nothing wrong with a good motorcycle, Dursley. You just don't appreciate a good thing when you see it." Said Sirius.

"No one seems to appreciate motorcycles these days, hey Padfoot?" laughed James, subtly glancing over at Remus, who narrowed his eyes at James.

"**I had a dream about a motorcycle," said Harry, remembering suddenly. "It was flying."**

**Uncle Vernon nearly crashed into the car in front. He turned right around in his seat and yelled at Harry, his face like a gigantic beet with a mustache: "MOTORCYCLES DON'T FLY!"**

"YES THEY DO!" yelled Sirius, back at the book.

**Dudley and Piers sniggered.**

"**I know they don't," said Harry. "It was only a dream."**

"No it wasn't, Harry! They do fly!" Sirius remaked, smiling at the book.

**But he wished he hadn't said anything. If there was one thing the Dursleys hated even more than his asking questions, it was his talking about anything acting in a way it shouldn't, no matter it was a dream or even a cartoon –– they seemed to think he might get dangerous ideas.**

**It was a very sunny Saturday and the zoo was crowded with families. The Dursleys bought Dudley and Piers large chocolate ice creams at the entrance and then, because the smiling lady in the van had asked Harry what he wanted before they could hurry him away, they bought him a cheap lemon ice pop. **

"Well that was kind of nice of them," said Remus, smiling slightly.

"Don't give your hopes up yet Moony," James responded.

**It wasn't bad, either, Harry thought, licking it as they watched a gorilla scratching its head who looked remarkably like Dudley, except that it wasn't blond.**

The group exploded into laughter once more.

"Prongs, that son of yours is hilarious," commented Remus.

James beamed, "I know right?"

 **Harry had the best morning he'd had in a long time. He was careful to walk a little way apart from the Dursleys so that Dudley and Piers, who were starting to get bored with the animals by lunchtime, wouldn't fall back on their favorite hobby of hitting him.**

**They are in the zoo restaurant, and when Dudley had a tantrum because his knickerbockers glory didn't have enough ice cream on top, Uncle Vernon bought him another one and Harry was allowed to finish the first. **

"Wow, the Dursleys seem pretty nice to him at the moment," said Peter surprised.

"It seems too good to be true," murmured Sirius.

**Harry felt, afterward, that he should have known it was all too good to last.**

 **After lunch they went to the reptile house. It was cool and dark in there, with lit windows all along the walls. Behind the glass, all sorts of lizards and snakes were crawling and slithering over bits of wood and stone. Dudley and Piers wanted to see huge, poisonous cobras and thick, man-crushing pythons. Dudley quickly found the largest snake in the place. It could have wrapped its body twice around Uncle Vernon's car and crushed it into a can –– **

"Do it Harry! Crush dastardly Dursley's car!" encouraged Sirius.

"Dastardly Dursleys?" chuckled Remus.

"It kind of fits, don't you think?" he replied.

**but at the moment it didn't look in the mood. In fact, it was fast asleep.**

**Dudley stood with his nose pressed against the glass, staring at the glistening brown coils.**

"**Make it move," he whined at his father. Uncle Vernon tapped on the glass, but the snake didn't budge.**

"**Do it again," Dudley ordered. Uncle Vernon rapped the glass smartly with his knuckles, but the snake just snoozed on.**

"I know we've said this several times, but he is such a bloody brat," commented James.

"**This is boring," Dudley moaned. He shuffled away.**

"With a really short attention span," said Remus finishing James's previous comment.

**Harry moved in front of the tank and looked intently at the snake. He wouldn't have been surprised if it had died of boredom itself –– no company except stupid people drumming their fingers on the glass trying to disturb it all day long. It was worse than having a cupboard as a bedroom, where the only visitor was Aunt Petunia hammering on the door to wake you up; at least he got to visit the rest of the house.**

**The snake suddenly opened its beady eyes. Slowly, very slowly, it raised its head until its eyes were on a level with Harry's.**

_**It winked.**_

"Why is the snake winking at Harry?" asked Peter. The others didn't know either and just shrugged in response.

**Harry stared. Then he looked quickly around to see if anyone was watching. They weren't. He looked back at the snake and winked, too.**

**The snake jerked its head toward Uncle Vernon and Dudley, then raised its eyes to the ceiling. It gave Harry a look that said quite plainly:**_** "I get that all the time."**_

"**I know," Harry murmured through the glass, though he wasn't sure the snake could hear him. "It must be really annoying."**

James mouth dropped in surprise, "Is my son a parselmouth?"

"Probably not Prongs, it doesn't run in your family, nor Lily's," replied Remus, making sure his friend didn't jump to conclusions.

"He can probably just… read… snake facial expressions, really well?" added Sirius uncertainly.

**The snake nodded vigorously.**

 "**Where do you come from, anyway" Harry asked.**

**The snake jabbed its tail at a little sign next to the glass. Harry peered at it. Boa Constrictor, Brazil.**

"**Was it nice there?"**

**The boa constrictor jabbed its tail at the sign again and Harry read on: This specimen was bred in the zoo. "Oh, I see –– so you've never been to Brazil?"**

"Come on, my son is having a conversation with a bloody snake!" exclaimed James throwing his arms in the air in defeat.

"You know Prongs, if he is a parselmouth it's not necessarily a bad thing," comforted Peter.

**As the snake shook its head, a deafening shout behind Harry made both of them jump. "DUDLEY! MR. DURSLEY! COME AND LOOK AT THIS SNAKE! YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT IT''S DOING!"**

**Dudley came waddling toward them as fast as he could.**

"**Out of the way, you," he said, punching Harry in the ribs. Caught by surprise, Harry fell hard on the concrete floor.**

"Hey! Don't push around Harry!" yelled James.

"Knew all the niceness was too good to be true," muttered Sirius.

**What came next happened so fast no one saw how it happened –– on second Piers and Dudley were leaning right up close to the glass, the next, they had leapt back with howls of horror.**

**Harry sat up and gasped; the glass front of the boa constrictor's tank had vanished. The great snake was uncoiling itself rapidly, slithering out onto the floor. People throughout the reptile house screamed and started running for the exits.**

"GO HARRY!" exclaimed Sirius laughing.

"I-I-I don't like snakes and how do you know it was Harry?" Peter asked quietly.

"Calm down, Wormtail, the snakes aren't going to get you, they are just in the book." Sighed Sirius, "And who else could have done it? It had to be Harry."

"It was brilliant!" said James, agreeing with Sirius.

**As the snake slid swiftly past him, Harry could have sworn a low, hissing voice said, "Brazil, here I come... Thanksss, amigo."**

"See!" James cried out, "My son is a parselmouth! But if I can be best mates with a werewolf, then I can have a parselmouth for a son" James said smiling at Remus.

**The keeper of the reptile house was in shock.**

"**But the glass," he kept saying, "where did the glass go?"**

**The zoo director himself made Aunt Petunia a cup of strong, sweet tea while he apologized over and over again. Piers and Dudley could only gibber. As far as Harry had seen, the snake hadn't done anything except snap playfully at their heels as it passed, but by the time they were all back in Uncle Vernon's car, Dudley was telling them how it had nearly bitten off his leg, while Piers was swearing it had tried to squeeze him to death. But worst of all, for Harry at least, was Piers calming down enough to say, "Harry was talking to it, weren't you, Harry?"**

"Now you've gone a bloody done it, you stupid rat!" muttered Sirius.

"Hey!" exclaimed Peter, frowning at Sirius.

"Sorry Wormtail, but you got to admit he was shouldn't have done it," apologized Sirius, smiling at Peter.

**Uncle Vernon waited until Piers was safely out of the house before starting on Harry. He was so angry he could hardly speak. He managed to say, "Go –– cupboard –– stay –– no meals,"**

"That's not fair!" yelled James.

"No meals, the poor kid will starve to death," worried Remus.

**before he collapsed into a chair, and Aunt Petunia had to run and get him a large brandy.**

 **Harry lay in his dark cupboard much later, wishing he had a watch. He didn't know what time it was and he couldn't be sure the Dursleys were asleep yet. Until they were, he couldn't risk sneaking to the kitchen for some food.**

**He couldn't remember being in the car when his parents had died**

"You weren't in a car, Harry," said Peter.

"Because there was no car," added Sirius.

**This, he supposed, was the crash, though he couldn't imagine where all the green light came from. **

"He…He… He remembers?" stuttered James, "He remembers us getting…"

**He couldn't remember his parents at all.**

Sirius, Remus and Peter looked at James with sadness crossing all three faces.

"He was only one," reasoned James, shaking off the looks they were giving him.

**His aunt and uncle never spoke about them, and of course he was forbidden to ask questions. There were no photographs of them in the house.  When he had been younger, Harry had dreamed and dreamed of some unknown relation coming to take him away,**

Sirius grinned, "ME! I'm going to come and take you away, Harry! We'll fly away on my motorcycle."

"Hang on, a second Padfoot," said James.

**but it had never happened;**

Sirius's face fell, "Oh…"

**the Dursleys were his only family.**

"Some family," scoffed Sirius.

Remus glared at him, "Stop interrupting after every 4 words and let James read."

**Yet sometimes he thought (or maybe hoped) that strangers in the street seemed to know him. Very strange strangers they were, too. A tiny man in a violet top hat had bowed to him once while out shopping with Aunt petunia and Dudley. **

**After asking Harry furiously if he knew the man, Aunt Petunia had rushed them out of the shop without buying anything. A wild-looking old woman dressed all in green had waved merrily at him once on a bus. A bald man in a very long purple coat had actually shaken his hand in the street the other day and then walked away without a word. **

"Wizards!" Exclamed Peter, the others nodded in agreement.

**The weirdest thing about all these people was the way they seemed to vanish the second Harry tried to get a closer look.**

"They apparate Harry, like you apparated to the school roof," explained Sirius.

**At school, Harry had no one. Everybody knew that Dudley's gang hated that odd Harry Potter in his baggy old clothes and broken glasses, and nobody like to disagree with Dudley's gang.**

James closed the book and set it back down.

"I'm hungry. Food?" asked Sirius, patting stomach. The rest agreed and walked out of the dorm and out towards the great hall.

They sat down and immediately Sirius and Peter started piling their plates with food. "Moony," James began looking away from Sirius, "I'm thinking of telling Lily about the book, what do you think?" he asked uncertainly.

"Well she does have a right to know about it, you do marry her after all," he said smiling.

"But," started Sirius swallowing his chicken, "Evans wont be exactly excited by the fact that she's going to marry Prongs."

"She'll probably think he wrote the book himself," added Peter. James thought it over.

"I'm going to tell her, Evans should know about our wonderful son," he decided grinning at that last bit. He and Remus, who came along knowing James would need the backup, got up from the table and started walking towards Lily Evans, who was sitting with her friends at the other end of the Great Hall.

"Good afternoon Evans," said James brightly, sitting backwards on the seat next to Lily. Lily rolled her eyes and looked over at James.

"No Potter, I'm not going out with you so save yourself the trouble of asking," responded Lily.

James sighed, "Maybe next time then, Evans."

"Not bloody likely," snorted Lily. James ignored this and continued on.

"Actually Lily flower," started James, earning a glare from Lily, "the reason I'm here is to tell you about this interesting book Moony found when we were in the library today."  
Lily looked at James with mock confusion, "You were in a library, Potter?" She asked astonished. "I didn't know you knew where it even was."

James smirked but quickly wiped it off his face, "Helping Pete with his potions homework, he had a bit of trouble. But anyway, I thought you might want to take a look at it."

Lily just looked at him with confusion so but James looked at Remus not knowing what to say next so he took over, "Actually Lily, I found it in the restricted section," he said taking a seat next to James. "It's about this boy named Harry Potter, who lives with his aunt and uncle because his parents were killed by You-Know-Who, but Harry somehow defeated him."

"When he was only one year old," interrupted James finding his stride once again, "And you know the best part Evans, his parents are named James and _Lily _Potter," he continued grinning madly.

Lily laughed at the 'James and Lily Potter', "Are you sure you didn't write this book Potter?" she said, her laughter dying down to a chuckle. James frowned slightly at this and looked towards Remus, he was James's only hope.

"He's right, Lils." He said smiling slightly, "but the interesting, well strange thing is that this book has a publishing date of 1997, how is that possible?" Remus asked, hoping this would make Lily as curious as the boys had been a few hours earlier.

"Well Potter probably… I mean… Potter probably put the date to coincide?" Stumbled Lily.

This again made James grin, "Nope it was written by some JK Rowling person, last time I checked that wasn't me."

"Lily just come and check it out in the common room after dinner," said Remus getting up, but Lily still looked uncertain. Remus just gave her a look that told her she better come, as he dragged James off the seat and back to where Sirius and Peter were still eating.

"Well?" Peter asked as they sat back down.

James was about to speak up but Remus got in first, "If I know Lily, she'll be there," he said smiling.


	3. Chapter 3: The Letters From No One

Hey guys,  
Here's the next chapter :)  
I want to say thank you to people who have left reviews, who have put this on story alert and such, I know I've only just started but I just wanted to say thanks.  
This chapter took a little longer than I would have liked, I usually prefer to churn them out as quickly as possible but work's been screwing me around lately and mucked with my writing schedule. And I'm still finding my stride in terms of writing... But regardless, here is chapter 3.  
Hope you enjoy it :D

Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter series of books, nor do I own the characters. I wish I did, but sadly do not :(

* * *

**Chapter 3: The Letters from No One **or James Potter can't Control his Hair.

"Damn it, Evans should be here by now," exclaimed James frustrated, falling into an armchair. It had been forty-five minutes since the Marauders had come up to the Common Room from dinner. When they came back, James ran up the stairs to the boy's dormitory in excitement, grabbed the book and ran back down. Since then he had been pacing back and forth in front of the fire waiting for Lily.

"She'll get here eventually, Prongs," Remus reassured him, "and in Lily's defence I didn't actually say when she should be up here," he said, looking up from the game of chess he had started playing against Sirius. They had started playing when they got bored of watching James pace back and forth.

James just sighed frustrated in response, and watched the chess game, slowly tapping his fingers on the arm of the chair.  
It had been another ten minutes before Lily walked into the common room. James turned around and saw her walking towards the foursome; he quickly rearranged his features from annoyance to utter joy.

"Hello my beautiful Lily flower," sighed James, he quickly hopped up from his chair and offered it Lily, who glared at him but took the seat nonetheless.

"About time you got here, Evans," said Sirius, looking away from Remus, who was contemplating his next move. "Some of us were beginning to think you wouldn't show up," he smirked, quickly glancing at James.

"I ran into Professor Slughorn on the way up, he started talking about Potions and when the next Slug Club is," she sighed, slumping back in the chair. She noticed that James was staring at her, so she straighten up and got straight to the point, "Anyway, about this book you were telling me about earlier…"

James brightened at the mention of his, now favourite, book and passed it to Lily.

"We've only read the first two chapters so you want to skim through those and tell us what you think?" asked Remus, he hoped that she wouldn't find them completely insane for what they thought.

"Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone?" she asked doubtfully. James, Peter and Sirius all nodded enthusiastically in response. "It sounds like just a Muggle fiction novel if you ask me, it's probably just coincidence."

"But when you read what's inside and there seems like too many recognisable people and places to be coincidental," replied Remus. Lily didn't respond, she just opened the book and began reading. They watched Lily's facial expressions change from doubtful, to surprise ("Dumbledore and McGonagall?"), to disgust ("I marry Potter! This has to be _the_ worst day of my life," she had muttered), to frightful.

"I-I-I die?" she stuttered out after a couple of minutes. All four of the boys had the same look of sadness in their eyes, but they didn't say a word as Lily absorbed the news and slowly began reading again. Nor did they say a word until she had finished reading. She slowly closed the book and handed it back to James.

The four of them waited for her response, "Well…" she started, she was struggling to find the right words to say, "Remus, you were right, there is a lot in there for it to be just coincidence. Not to mention, my sister and her god awful boyfriend are in there," she shuddered at the thought of Vernon Dursley. "Pet started going out with him last year, I've met him once and he is such a horrible man."

"Wait, so you believe us?" asked Sirius surprised.

Lily nodded in response, "I guess I do, it's hard to argue with the facts right?" she said with a small smile. This made James beam, "So that means you'll read the rest of it with us?" he asked excited at the thought of spending more time with Lily Evans.

She nodded again, "Why not?" she stopped for a minute and glared at James, "Just don't try anything or it will be your head on a platter."

"Wouldn't dream of it, Lily darling," he said with a small smirk on his face. But he was soon distracted, as Sirius tried to grab the book off him.

"Padfoot, you're not going to read this chapter, are you?" asked Remus with a worried tone to his voice. "You hardly stopped interrupting me and Prongs when we were reading." Lily gave Remus a look of questioning, but he just shook his head, "You'll find out soon enough, Lils."

"I'm reading and you can't stop me," replied Sirius, sticking his tongue out at Remus.

**Chapter Three: The Letters from No One**

"All letters have to be from someone, how can they be from no one?" asked Peter, slightly confused.

"Maybe they didn't put who it was from on the letter," Sirius replied, "then it _would _be from no one."

Remus rolled his eyes, "it's probably just his Hogwarts letter," he told them frowning. Sirius ignored Remus's expression and took a moment to think about what he had said.

"But Moony, all Hogwarts letters are from McGonagall, everyone knows that," he replied, rolling his eyes mockingly. Lily realised what she had gotten herself into, picked up the cushion behind her and threw it at Sirius.

"You know Black, unless you and Peter shut up, you're never going to actually find out," said Lily, leaning back once more in her chair. James nodded in agreement, never being one to disagree with Lily Evans, and Sirius rolled his eyes again and sighed in defeat before reading the chapter.

**The escape of the Brazilian boa constrictor earned Harry his longest-ever punishment. By the time he was allowed out of his cupboard again, the summer holidays had started**

Lily gasped, "That's horrible! How can they treat Harry like that?!"

"Quite easily, apparently," snorted James.

"But.. But he didn't even do anything wrong! Petunia knows the signs of magic from me, she should be helping him not punishing him!" she exclaimed, folding her arms across her chest.

"It's like I said before, maybe they're trying to make him a Muggle, punish all the magic away," said Sirius, chuckling bitterly.

**and Dudley had already broken his new video camera, crashed his remote control airplane, and, first time out on his racing bike, knocked down old Mrs. Figg as she crossed Privet Drive on her crutches.**

"Nice to see he hasn't changed," muttered Remus.

"Still the same bratty monster he always is," grinned James.

**Harry was glad school was over, but there was no escaping Dudley's gang, who visited the house every single day. Piers, Dennis, Malcolm, and Gordon were all big and stupid, but as Dudley was the biggest and stupidest of the lot, he was the leader. The rest of them were all quite happy to join in Dudley's favourite sport: Harry Hunting.**

James and Lily both glared at the book.

"Harry hunting?" asked Remus astonished.

"You know I'm surprised Dudders even knows what sport is," said Sirius laughing.

"By the sounds of it, you wouldn't know it if you looked at him," laughed James, joining his mate.

**This was why Harry spent as much time as possible out of the house, wandering around and thinking about the end of the holidays, where he could see a tiny ray of hope. When September came he would be going off to secondary school and, for the first time in his life, he wouldn't be with Dudley. Dudley had been accepted at Uncle Vernon's old private school, Smeltings.**

Lily snorted at the mention of Smeltings, and the boys answered her with looks of confusion. "All _Vernon _ever talks about is his future at Grunnings and his schooling at Smeltings. Horrible Muggle school, they hit each other with sticks, says it builds character," she explained. The boys raised their eyebrows in surprise.

"Why in their right mind would they give teenage boys sticks?" asked a stunned Remus.

"That's just asking for trouble now isn't it?" chuckled James.

**Piers Polkiss was going there too. Harry, on the other hand, was going to Stonewall High, the local public school. Dudley thought this was very funny.**

**"They stuff people's heads down the toilet the first day at Stonewall," he told Harry. "Want to come upstairs and practice?"**

A small, short gasp came from Lily, "They're sending Dudley to an expensive private school and just shafting Harry off to the local high school?"

"Did you really think that they'd pay money to send Harry to school?" asked Sirius incredulously.

"I think there are bigger problems than sending Harry off to a local school…" began James.  
"Like the fact Dudley wants to put Harry's head down a toilet?" said Peter, continuing James's sentence.

"Exactly," nodded James, "I believe that it isn't Harry who should his head down the toilet."

"Give Ickle Duddykins a taste of his own medicine," said Sirius, smirking.

Lily huffed, "oh honestly, do all you two ever think about is torturing other people?"

"That's kind of a silly question, Lily, you know the answer to that," chuckled Remus.

James shook his head, ignoring Remus, "No, only about half my mind is devoted to that, the other half of my time is spent thinking about you. Evans; the love of my life, the apple of my eye, now if you went out with me I could show you how _much _of my time is spent thinking about you," suggested James, leaning over towards Lily.

"Potter; the pain in my side, the bane of my existence, the answer as always is no. I'd much rather kiss a flobberworm before snogging you." She responded glaring at him before moving away.

"Better luck next time, hey Prongs?" said Sirius before continuing on.

**"No, thanks," said Harry. "The poor toilet's never had anything as horrible as your head down it -- it might be sick." Then he ran, before Dudley could work out what he'd said.**

The Marauders and Lily all broke out into laughter at what Harry had said.

"Maybe he doesn't need us to teach Dudley a lesson after all, Padfoot?" said James, still laughing.

"Seems like Harry might have it sorted on his own," agreed Sirius his laughter dying down to a chuckle.

**One day in July, Aunt Petunia took Dudley to London to buy his Smeltings uniform, leaving Harry at Mrs. Figg's. Mrs. Figg wasn't as bad as usual. It turned out she'd broken her leg tripping over one of her cats, and she didn't seem quite as fond of them as before. She let Harry watch television and gave him a bit of chocolate cake that tasted as though she'd had it for several years.**

Sirius bunched up his nose at the thought at year old chocolate cake and Peter let out a noise of disgust.

**That evening, Dudley paraded around the living room for the family in his brand-new uniform. Smeltings' boys wore maroon tailcoats, orange knickerbockers, and flat straw hats called boaters. **

"Attractive," muttered Remus.

"Bet he'll get _all kinds _of action in that uniform," smirked Sirius.

"Won't be able to keep the ladies off him," said James, mirroring Sirius's expression.

"I don't think anyone wants to think of Dudley getting _any _sort of action," replied Remus, trying to keep the image from creeping into his head.

"I honestly don't feel sorry for the girls that _do _end up going out with him, they're obviously stupid enough," commented Lily.

**They also carried knobbly sticks, used for hitting each other while the teachers weren't looking. This was supposed to be good training for later life.**

**As he looked at Dudley in his new knickerbockers, Uncle Vernon said gruffly that it was the proudest moment of his life. Aunt Petunia burst into tears and said she couldn't believe it was her Ickle Dudleykins, he looked so handsome and grown-up. **

"Well I guess that's one way to put it," said Remus mockingly.

"Another way to put it is idiotic and stupid," replied Sirius.

"I can't believe she calls him Ickle Dudleykins, I don't know where she gets these names from," said Lily, shaking her head.

"Evans, I believe you missed out, she called him Ickle Diddykins earlier," grinned James.

"I like Dinky Duddydums better myself," laughed Sirius.

"She likes calling him Ickle something doesn't she?" said Peter, with a slight chuckle to his voice.

"I don't know where she gets it from, mum's never said called us Ickle anything in her life," said Lily.

"I think it's just a very Dursleyish thing to do," said Remus, laughing quietly.

**Harry didn't trust himself to speak. He thought two of his ribs might already have cracked from trying not to laugh.**

**There was a horrible smell in the kitchen the next morning when Harry went in for breakfast. It seemed to be coming from a large metal tub in the sink. He went to have a look. The tub was full of what looked like dirty rags swimming in grey water.**

**"What's this?" he asked Aunt Petunia. Her lips tightened as they always did if he dared to ask a question.**

**"Your new school uniform," she said.**

**Harry looked in the bowl again.**

**"Oh," he said, "I didn't realise it had to be so wet."**

"Don't you know Harry, wet uniforms are all the rage at the moment," grinned Sirius.

"Gives you that 'I-just-got-out-of-the-water-and-you-know-you-want-to-snog-me' look," agreed James.

"And the smell?" asked Lily as she raised an eyebrow.

"It's pheromones, to attract the girls," answered Remus, with a hint of a smirk on his face.

"Not that he needs it, I mean he's a combination of me and Evans, his hair alone should bring flocks of girls his way," said James, with a slight arrogance to his voice.

"Ah I see, that explains it then, I mean that hair is a being of it's own," mocked Lily, rolling her eyes.

"You've got to admit, his hair is quite brilliant," complemented Peter.

"Really? It's messy and unkempt!" she responded watching James as he ran his fingers over his hair messing it up more, "and he does that!"

"I can't control the hair, Evans, the hair controls itself," stated James. Remus gave Sirius a look to continue reading before James and Lily started another row.

**"Don't be stupid," snapped Aunt Petunia. "I'm dyeing some of Dudley's old things grey for you. It'll look just like everyone else's when I've finished."**

**Harry seriously doubted this, but thought it best not to argue.**

"That's probably a good idea," said Remus, the others nodded in agreement.

**He sat down at the table and tried not to think about how he was going to look on his first day at Stonewall High -- like he was wearing bits of old elephant skin, probably.**

**Dudley and Uncle Vernon came in, both with wrinkled noses because of the smell from Harry's new uniform. Uncle Vernon opened his newspaper as usual and Dudley banged his Smelting stick, which he carried everywhere, on the table.**

**They heard the click of the mail slot and flop of letters on the doormat.**

**"Get the mail, Dudley," said Uncle Vernon from behind his paper.**

**"Make Harry get it."**

**"Get the mail, Harry."**

**"Make Dudley get it."**

**"Poke him with your Smelting stick, Dudley."**

"Make your own son get the mail," muttered Lily.

"Merlin knows he needs the exercise," agreed James, a small smirk on his face.

**Harry dodged the Smelting stick and went to get the mail. Three things lay on the doormat: a postcard from Uncle Vernon's sister Marge, who was vacationing on the Isle of Wight, a brown envelope that looked like a bill, and -- **_**a letter for Harry.**_

**Harry picked it up and stared at it, his heart twanging like a giant elastic band. No one, ever, in his whole life, had written to him. Who would? He had no friends, no other relatives -- he didn't belong to the library, so he'd never even got rude notes asking for books back. Yet here it was, a letter, addressed so plainly there could be no mistake:**

_**Mr. H. Potter**_

_**The Cupboard under the Stairs**_

_**4 Privet Drive**_

_**Little Whinging**_

_**Surrey**_

"HOGWARTS!" cheered James and Sirius.

"Not again," Remus groaned, putting his head in his hands.

Lily looked at Remus with confusion then turned to Sirius and James, "What are you both yelling about now?" she asked.

"It's Harry's Hogwarts letter, how could you not be happy about it!" beamed James proudly.

"And…" Remus added, "Every time these two recognize someone or something they feel the need to cheer and yell about it," he shook his head at the two boys but there was a hint of a smile on his face. "So you better get used to it, because it might happen a bit."

Lily just sighed.

"But how do we know it's his Hogwarts Letter, Harry probably gets a letters all the time," questioned Peter.

Sirius looked at him with a 'you've-got-to-be-kidding' kind of look, "Pete, it says right here, "No one, ever, in his whole life, had written to him." Meaning, he never gets mail,"

"Therefore it has to be his Hogwarts letter," concluded Remus.

**The envelope was thick and heavy, made of yellowish parchment, and the address was written in emerald-green ink. There was no stamp.**

"What's a stamp?" asked James, slightly puzzled.

"It's a small piece of sticky paper that Muggles use when sending mail. Don't you pay attention in Muggle Studies Potter?" answered Lily.

"Of course I do, Evans," he replied. Sirius, Remus and Peter all snorted; the only reason James did Muggle Studies was because Lily did. He ignored them and continued to talk to Lily, "I just must have, uh, missed that lesson."

The look on Lily's face told him she didn't believe him, but decided it wasn't worth arguing about.

**Turning the envelope over, his hand trembling, Harry saw a purple wax seal bearing a coat of arms; a lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake surrounding a large letter H.**

James and Sirius cheered again, high fiving each other.

"She doesn't have to describe the seal, we know what it looks like!" exclaimed Remus slightly frustrated. The others looked at him with a mix of surprise and confusion. "I just want Harry to open his letter…" he said meekly.

**"Hurry up, boy!" shouted Uncle Vernon from the kitchen. "What are you doing, checking for letter bombs?" He chuckled at his own joke.**

Peter laughed mockingly, "He's so funny!"

**Harry went back to the kitchen, still staring at his letter. He handed Uncle Vernon the bill and the postcard, sat down, and slowly began to open the yellow envelope.**

**Uncle Vernon ripped open the bill, snorted in disgust, and flipped over the postcard.**

**"Marge's ill," he informed Aunt Petunia. "Ate a funny whelk. --."**

**"Dad!" said Dudley suddenly. "Dad, Harry's got something!"**

James and Lily glared at the book.

"Don't you DARE take Harry's letter off of him!" growled Sirius.

**Harry was on the point of unfolding his letter, which was written on the same heavy parchment as the envelope, when it was jerked sharply out of his hand by Uncle Vernon.**

**"That's **_**mine**_**!" said Harry, trying to snatch it back.**

James, Sirius and Remus all growled and Lily and Peter both glared at the book.

"Give my boy his letter," muttered James darkly.

"He's going to Hogwarts whether you like it or not, Petunia!" Exclaimed Lily, still glaring at the book.

**"Who'd be writing to you?" sneered Uncle Vernon, shaking the letter open with one hand and glancing at it. His face went from red to green faster than a set of traffic lights. And it didn't stop there. Within seconds it was the greyish white of old porridge.**

**"P-P-Petunia!" he gasped.**

**Dudley tried to grab the letter to read it, but Uncle Vernon held it high out of his reach. Aunt Petunia took it curiously and read the first line. For a moment it looked as though she might faint. She clutched her throat and made a choking noise.**

**"Vernon! Oh my goodness -- Vernon!"**

"They honestly can't say they never saw this coming," said Remus.

"True, I mean Petunia is Lily's sister, she at least should have known it was going to happen," agreed James.

"I'm not surprised, but they should just give Harry his letter, and explain _everything _to him. But knowing them they probably wont," shrugged Lily.

**They stared at each other, seeming to have forgotten that Harry and Dudley were still in the room. Dudley wasn't used to being ignored. He gave his father a sharp tap on the head with his Smelting stick.**

**"I want to read that letter," he said loudly. I want to read it," said Harry furiously, "as it's mine."**

**"Get out, both of you," croaked Uncle Vernon, stuffing the letter back inside its envelope.**

**Harry didn't move.**

**I WANT MY LETTER!" he shouted.**

"GO HARRY!" all the boys yelled loudly. The other students in the common room looked up at the foursome in confusion. But as it wasn't uncommon for the Marauders to do strange things, they slowly just went back to whatever they were doing.

**"Let me see it!" demanded Dudley.**

**"OUT!" roared Uncle Vernon, and he took both Harry and Dudley by the scruffs of their necks and threw them into the hall, slamming the kitchen door behind them. **

"Oi! He has no right to do that to Harry, its HIS LETTER!" cried James, clearly frustrated.

**Harry and Dudley promptly had a furious but silent fight over who would listen at the keyhole; Dudley won, so Harry, his glasses dangling from one ear, lay flat on his stomach to listen at the crack between door and floor.**

**"Vernon," Aunt Petunia was saying in a quivering voice, "look at the address -- how could they possibly know where he sleeps? You don't think they're watching the house?"**

"We're wizards, we know things like that," sighed Sirius.

"Pet must have short term memory loss if she doesn't remember _any _of this from when I was eleven," said Lily.

**"Watching -- spying -- might be following us," muttered Uncle Vernon wildly.**

"Who would bother following you Dursley," muttered Remus.

**"But what should we do, Vernon? Should we write back? Tell them we don't want --"**

**Harry could see Uncle Vernon's shiny black shoes pacing up and down the kitchen.**

**"No," he said finally. "No, we'll ignore it. If they don't get an answer... Yes, that's best... we won't do anything..."**

**"But --"**

**"I'm not having one in the house, Petunia! Didn't we swear when we took him in we'd stamp out that dangerous nonsense?"**

"Dangerous?" asked Peter incredulously.

"Nonsense?!" exclaimed Lily with an angry edge to her voice. "Petunia didn't think it was nonsense when we were younger. When got my letter, she wrote to Dumbledore asking if she could come too, she was always jealous of my going to Hogwarts," she told the others, James chuckled quietly at the story.

"It isn't even possible to 'stamp out' magical blood," said Remus.

"Doesn't stop them trying though," stated Sirius.

**That evening when he got back from work, Uncle Vernon did something he'd never done before; he visited Harry in his cupboard.**

**"Where's my letter?" said Harry, the moment Uncle Vernon had squeezed through the door.**

"Didn't think he'd fit in there," said Lily, laughing quietly to herself.

**"Who's writing to me?"**

**"No one. It was addressed to you by mistake," said Uncle Vernon shortly. "I have burned it."**

They all just silently glared.

"Dursley needs to work on his lying skills, because they're absolute rubbish," muttered James.

**"It was not a mistake," said Harry angrily, "it had my cupboard on it."**

**"SILENCE!" yelled Uncle Vernon, and a couple of spiders fell from the ceiling. He took a few deep breaths and then forced his face into a smile, which looked quite painful.**

**"Er -- yes, Harry -- about this cupboard. Your aunt and I have been thinking... you're really getting a bit big for it... we think it might be nice if you moved into Dudley's second bedroom.**

**"Why?" said Harry.**

**"Don't ask questions!" snapped his uncle. "Take this stuff upstairs, now."**

**The Dursleys' house had four bedrooms: one for Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia, one for visitors (usually Uncle Vernon's sister, Marge), one where Dudley slept, and one where Dudley kept all the toys and things that wouldn't fit into his first bedroom. **

"So Duddydums got two bedrooms but they forced Harry into a cupboard? That is complete and utter bull-" Remus put his hand on Sirius's mouth, shutting him up.

"Padfoot…" he threatened. Sirius just gave him a look of questioning because he couldn't speak.

"Pads, we're in the presence of a lady," said James, gesturing to Lily, "and we must act as gentleman."

Lily rolled her eyes, "curse away, you've never cared before, why start now?"

Noticing Remus's hand was still covering his mouth, he bit it; making Remus let out a small cry of pain, before he spoke.

"Prongs is probably right Evans, but the more important matter, Dudley: 2 bedrooms – Harry: cupboard," he said, making wild hand gestures towards the end.

"Should we have expected different?" asked Remus, raising an eyebrow.

"They probably think by giving Harry another bedroom the letter won't find him, or something," commented Peter.

**It only took Harry one trip upstairs to move everything he owned from the cupboard to this room. He sat down on the bed and stared around him. Nearly everything in here was broken. The month-old video camera was lying on top of a small, working tank Dudley had once driven over the next door neighbour's dog; in the corner was Dudley's first-ever television set, which he'd put his foot through when his favourite program had been cancelled; there was a large birdcage, which had once held a parrot that Dudley had swapped at school for a real air rifle, which was up on a shelf with the end all bent because Dudley had sat on it. **

They all laughed quietly at Dudley's bent rifle.

**Other shelves were full of books. They were the only things in the room that looked as though they'd never been touched.**

"Probably doesn't how to read," muttered Remus.

"Not many words besides dog and cat anyway," said Sirius with a small grin.

**From downstairs came the sound of Dudley bawling at his mother, I don't want him in there... I need that room... make him get out...."**

"Need it? You don't bloody use it!" exclaimed Peter.

**Harry sighed and stretched out on the bed. Yesterday he'd have given anything to be up here. Today he'd rather be back in his cupboard with that letter than up here without it.**

"They should have just given him the letter," said Lily, with a sad smile, "he doesn't know what it is, but it means a lot to him… and us," she said looking at James, giving him a small smile. James for once didn't ruin the moment and just smiled back.

**Next morning at breakfast, everyone was rather quiet. Dudley was in shock. He'd screamed, whacked his father with his Smelting stick, been sick on purpose, kicked his mother, and thrown his tortoise through the greenhouse roof, and he still didn't have his room back.**

"Brilliant!" grinned Sirius, "For once Ickle Dudders doesn't get what he wants!"

**Harry was thinking about this time yesterday and bitterly wishing he'd opened the letter in the hall. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia kept looking at each other darkly.**

**When the mail arrived, Uncle Vernon, who seemed to be trying to be nice to Harry, made Dudley go and get it. **

"Didn't think that Vernon knew how to be nice to Harry," said Peter.

"Still don't think he does, he's just _tolerating _him more than usual," answered Lily.

**They heard him banging things with his Smelting stick all the way down the hall. Then he shouted, "There's another one! **_**Mr. H. Potter, The Smallest Bedroom, 4 Privet Drive --"**_

"Dudley Dursley, you stupid beach ball give my son his letter!" growled James.

**With a strangled cry, Uncle Vernon leapt from his seat and ran down the hall, Harry right behind him. Uncle Vernon had to wrestle Dudley to the ground to get the letter from him, which was made difficult by the fact that Harry had grabbed Uncle Vernon around the neck from behind.**

Everyone sat closer to Sirius, hoping this time Harry would win.

**After a minute of confused fighting, in which everyone got hit a lot by the Smelting stick, Uncle Vernon straightened up, gasping for breath, with Harry's letter clutched in his hand.**

**"Go to your cupboard -- I mean, your bedroom," he wheezed at Harry. "Dudley -- go -- just go."**

They all slumped backwards once again, saddened by the fact Dursley won.

"How could Vernon beat Harry?" asked Remus disbelievingly.

"Well Harry would be lighter than Vernon, so he probably didn't really get in the way," replied Lily.

**Harry walked round and round his new room. Someone knew he had moved out**

**of his cupboard and they seemed to know he hadn't received his first letter. Surely that meant they'd try again? And this time he'd make sure they didn't fail. He had a plan.**

**The repaired alarm clock rang at six o'clock the next morning. Harry turned it off quickly and dressed silently. He mustn't wake the Dursleys. He stole downstairs without turning on any of the lights.**

**He was going to wait for the postman on the corner of Privet Drive and get the letters for number four first.**

"Got to admit, that is quite brilliant!" said Peter.

"He's got a brain, and a fantastic one at that," added Remus.

"Well, there's no question where he got that from…" said James, looking at his Lily with adoration.

**His heart hammered as he crept across the dark hall toward the front door –**

'**AAAAARRRGH!'**

**Harry leapt into the air; he'd trodden on something big and squashy on the doormat -- something **_**alive**_**!**

**Lights clicked on upstairs and to his horror Harry realised that the big, squashy something had been his uncle's face.**

**Uncle Vernon had been lying at the foot of the front door in a sleeping bag, clearly making sure that Harry didn't do exactly what he'd been trying to do.**

The boys looked defeated.

"Damn," sighed Sirius.

"It was worth a shot," shrugged Peter.

**He shouted at Harry for about half an hour and then told him to go and make a cup of tea. Harry shuffled miserably off into the kitchen and by the time he got back, the mail had arrived, right into Uncle Vernon's lap. Harry could see three letters addressed in green ink.**

**I want --" he began, but Uncle Vernon was tearing the letters into pieces before his eyes. Uncle Vernon didn't go to work that day. He stayed at home and nailed up the mail slot.**

"_Someone_'s getting a bit tooworked up," commented James.

"He needs a hobby," agreed Remus.

**"See," he explained to Aunt Petunia through a mouthful of nails, "if they can't **_**deliver **_**them they'll just give up."**

**"I'm not sure that'll work, Vernon."**

"She's right, Vernon. She knows this sort of stuff… well she should anyway," said Lily, agreeing with her older sister.

**"Oh, these people's minds work in strange ways, Petunia, they're not like you and me," said Uncle Vernon,**

"Thank God we're not like you," said Sirius.

"Don't think I could handle it if we were all like the Dursleys," muttered James.

"Prongs, if either of us end up this boring and stupid in our old age, we should agree to knock some sense into each other," proposed Sirius.

James grinned at his best mate "deal."

**Trying to knock in a nail with the piece of fruitcake Aunt Petunia had just brought him. On Friday, no less than twelve letters arrived for Harry. As they couldn't go through the mail slot they had been pushed under the door, slotted through the sides, and a few even forced through the small window in the downstairs bathroom.**

**Uncle Vernon stayed at home again. After burning all the letters, he got out a hammer and nails and boarded up the cracks around the front and back doors so no one could go out. He hummed "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" as he worked, and jumped at small noises.**

"Tiptoe through the Tulips?" asked Peter.

The three other boys shrugged, not knowing the song either.

"It's a Muggle song from the late 20's _but _it was redone in the 60's by this Muggle named Tiny Tim," Lily explained.

"Good song?" asked James.

Lily shrugged her shoulders, "I'm not a huge fan of it but apparently Vernon loves it," she said.

Sirius and James looked at each other, "sounds like we'd probably hate it then Prongs."

"I mean if Lily doesn't like it and _Dursley _does, then I'm not ever going near it," agreed James.

**On Saturday, things began to get out of hand. Twenty-four letters to Harry found their way into the house, rolled up and hidden inside each of the two dozen eggs that their very confused milkman had handed Aunt Petunia through the living room window.**

"That's really clever," said Remus.

"They're very persistent," commented Peter.

"You can't just ignore Hogwarts, that's not the way it works," sighed Lily.

**While Uncle Vernon made furious telephone calls to the post office and the dairy trying to find someone to complain to, Aunt Petunia shredded the letters in her food processor.**

**"Who on earth wants to talk to you this badly?" Dudley asked Harry in amazement.**

**On Sunday morning, Uncle Vernon sat down at the breakfast table looking tired and rather ill, but happy.**

**"No post on Sundays," he reminded them cheerfully as he spread marmalade on his newspapers, "no damn letters today --"**

"Owls don't follow Muggle post rules, Dursley," explained James.

**Something came whizzing down the kitchen chimney as he spoke and caught him sharply on the back of the head. Next moment, thirty or forty letters came pelting out of the fireplace like bullets. The Dursleys ducked, but Harry leapt into the air trying to catch one.**

**"Out! OUT!"**

**Uncle Vernon seized Harry around the waist and threw him into the hall. **

"Hey!" exclaimed James, "Hands off my son!"

"You know there are laws against that kind of thing," muttered Remus. They all looked at him in surprise.

"What?" asked Remus innocently, "I didn't say anything, you all thought it, not me."

Lily groaned, "You're just as bad as they are," she pointed at James and Sirius.

"Well he is one of our best mates, Evans," explained Sirius.

"Yeah, he's got to have a twisted mind locked away somewhere," said James, grinning in agreement.

**When Aunt Petunia and Dudley had run out with their arms over their faces, Uncle Vernon slammed the door shut. They could hear the letters still streaming into the room, bouncing off the walls and floor.**

**"That does it," said Uncle Vernon, trying to speak calmly but pulling great tufts out of his moustache at the same time. I want you all back here in five minutes ready to leave. We're going away. Just pack some clothes. No arguments!"**

"You can't run away from your problems," said Sirius in a sing-song voice.

**He looked so dangerous with half his moustache missing that no one dared argue. **

"That would definitely be a sight to see," laughed Peter.

"Come one, come all, see the Muggle with half a moustache, he locks children in cupboards, sleeps on doorsteps and goes purple when he's angry! This is a once in a life time opportunity folks!" said James in booming voice, making the boys and even Lily laugh.

"The Dursley freak show, we could make millions," smirked Sirius.

**Ten minutes later they had wrenched their way through the boarded-up doors and were in the car, speeding toward the highway. Dudley was sniffling in the back seat; his father had hit him round the head for holding them up while he tried to pack his television, VCR, and computer in his sports bag.**

**They drove. And they drove. Even Aunt Petunia didn't dare ask where they were going. Every now and then Uncle Vernon would take a sharp turn and drive in the opposite direction for a while. "Shake'em off... shake 'em off," he would mutter whenever he did this.**

"Definitely needs a hobby," repeated Remus.

"I love that he's getting so worked up over this," said Lily, sporting a very Marauder like grin.

**They didn't stop to eat or drink all day. By nightfall Dudley was howling. He'd never had such a bad day in his life. He was hungry, he'd missed five television programs he'd wanted to see, and he'd never gone so long without blowing up an alien on his computer.**

James and Sirius looked at each other with a look of shock on their faces.

"Could you ever imagine such a horrible day?" exclaimed James with a slight sarcastic tone.

"I thought mum burning me off the family tree was bad, but this is just horrible," said Sirius, using the same tone as James.

"Nothing in comparison to even Moony's furry little problem," continued James, then he realized that Lily was with them and winced a bit as he looked over at Remus.

"Don't worry Prongs," he said with a smile, "Lily knows."

Peter, James and Sirius all looked at Remus and Lily with slight disbelief.

"Really? How?" they all asked at the same time.

"I'm not thick, it was quite easy to figure out," huffed Lily.

"And you are quite brilliant," James said under his breath, staring at Lily once more.

**Uncle Vernon stopped at last outside a gloomy-looking hotel on the outskirts of a big city. Dudley and Harry shared a room with twin beds and damp, musty sheets. Dudley snored but Harry stayed awake, sitting on the windowsill, staring down at the lights of passing cars and wondering....**

**They ate stale cornflakes and cold tinned tomatoes on toast for breakfast the next day. They had just finished when the owner of the hotel came over to their table.**

**"'Scuse me, but is one of you Mr. H. Potter? Only I got about an 'undred of these at the front desk."**

**She held up a letter so they could read the green ink address:**

_**Mr. H. Potter**_

_**Room 17**_

_**Railview Hotel**_

_**Cokeworth**_

Sirius smirked, "Told you, you can't run Dursley."

**Harry made a grab for the letter but Uncle Vernon knocked his hand out of the way. The woman stared.**

**"I'll take them," said Uncle Vernon, standing up quickly and following her from the dining room.**

**Wouldn't it be better just to go home, dear?" Aunt Petunia suggested timidly, hours later, but Uncle Vernon didn't seem to hear her. Exactly what he was looking for, none of them knew. He drove them into the middle of a forest, got out, looked around, shook his head, got back in the car, and off they went again. **

"How long is he planning to keep this up?" sighed Remus.

"Can't keep doing it forever," agreed Peter.

**The same thing happened in the middle of a ploughed field, halfway across a suspension bridge, and at the top of a multilevel parking garage.**

**"Daddy's gone mad, hasn't he?" Dudley asked Aunt Petunia dully late that afternoon. **

"Daddy?" James asked trying his best not to laugh.

**Uncle Vernon had parked at the coast, locked them all inside the car, and disappeared.**

**It started to rain. Great drops beat on the roof of the car. Dudley snivelled.**

**"It's Monday," he told his mother. "The Great Humberto's on tonight. I want to stay somewhere with a **_**television**_**. "**

"God forbid, that he misses one night of television," muttered Lily.

**Monday. This reminded Harry of something. If it was Monday -- and you could usually count on Dudley to know the days the week, because of television -- then tomorrow, Tuesday, was Harry's eleventh birthday. Of course, his birthdays were never exactly fun -- last year, the Dursleys had given him a coat hanger and a pair of Uncle Vernon's old socks. **

James and Lily both glared darkly at the book.

"How DARE they!?" yelled Lily, getting out of her seat. The boys all looked scared at Lily's burst of sudden anger. James slowly got out of his seat and sat Lily back down on her chair, he looked surprised when she didn't object. She also didn't object when James sat on the arm of her chair and didn't move.

Remus raised an eyebrow at James, who just shrugged. He expected an outburst from Lily too.

**Still, you weren't eleven every day.**

"Too right, you're not," agreed Sirius.

"Harry needs a special eleventh, seeing it's the first year at Hogwarts and all that," said Peter.

**Uncle Vernon was back and he was smiling. He was also carrying a long, thin package and didn't answer Aunt Petunia when she asked what he'd bought.**

**"Found the perfect place!" he said. "Come on! Everyone out!"**

**It was very cold outside the car. Uncle Vernon was pointing at what looked like a large rock way out at sea. Perched on top of the rock was the most miserable little shack you could imagine. One thing was certain, there was no television in there.**

"Sounds charming," said Lily sarcastically.

"Cozy," smirked Sirius.

**"Storm forecast for tonight!" said Uncle Vernon gleefully, clapping his hands together. "And this gentleman's kindly agreed to lend us his boat!"**

**A toothless old man came ambling up to them, pointing, with a rather wicked grin, at an old rowboat bobbing in the iron-grey water below them.**

**"I've already got us some rations," said Uncle Vernon, "so all aboard!"**

"Think he's gone insane," remarked Peter.

"Think Dursley went insane a few pages ago Wormtail," replied Remus.

**It was freezing in the boat. Icy sea spray and rain crept down their necks and a chilly wind whipped their faces. After what seemed like hours they reached the rock, where Uncle Vernon, slipping and sliding, led the way to the broken-down house.**

**The inside was horrible; it smelled strongly of seaweed, the wind whistled through the gaps in the wooden walls, and the fireplace was damp and empty. There were only two rooms.**

"Sounds lovely!" said James, in a tone too upbeat to be serious. "A bit of renovations and it would be fit for a king."

"No matter how many renovations you make, I don't think anything could make that place livable," said Lily, looking up at James.

"So I can cross that off of places for our first home then?" he replied smirking. Lily rolled her eyes and pushed James off the arm of the chair.

"I'd prefer something in the country, not that I'm not moving anywhere with you," she said, watching as James got up and returned to the arm of the chair, this time with more confidence as he put his arm resting on the top of the chair. She knew she wasn't going to be able to move him so she just ignored him, plus it was fun to push him off the chair when he was being a git.

**Uncle Vernon's rations turned out to be a bag of chips each and four bananas. He tried to start a fire but the empty chip bags just smoked and shrivelled up.**

**"Could do with some of those letters now, eh?" he said cheerfully.**

**He was in a very good mood. Obviously he thought nobody stood a chance of reaching them here in a storm to deliver mail. Harry privately agreed, though the thought didn't cheer him up at all.**

"Don't lose hope, Harry!" cried Peter.

"Owls always deliver, no matter where you are or what he weather," comforted Remus.

**As night fell, the promised storm blew up around them. Spray from the high waves splattered the walls of the hut and a fierce wind rattled the filthy windows. Aunt Petunia found a few mouldy blankets in the second room and made up a bed for Dudley on the moth-eaten sofa. She and Uncle Vernon went off to the lumpy bed next door, and Harry was left to find the softest bit of floor he could and to curl up under the thinnest, most ragged blanket.**

They all glared at the book, but felt sorry for Harry as he was left to fend for himself.

"Poor Harry, I never, ever want my son to have this life," said Lily quietly.

"Don't worry Lily," James said looking down at her, "Pads, Moony and Wormtail promised to take care of Harry earlier, instead of letting this happen."

Lily nodded, "Although I wouldn't trust Black, I know Remus and even Pete would do wonderfully."

Remus and Pete both beamed at the compliments but Sirius's face fell, "I'd be a brilliant Godfather type person for Harry!" he argued.

James nodded, "I've got agree there Evans, Harry does need a bit of Sirius in his life too."

Lily rolled her eyes, "Fine, Black I take it back. You'd probably work out fine, you've got Remus to keep you in control."

**The storm raged more and more ferociously as the night went on. Harry couldn't sleep. He shivered and turned over, trying to get comfortable, his stomach rumbling with hunger. Dudley's snores were drowned by the low rolls of thunder that started near midnight. The lighted dial of Dudley's watch, which was dangling over the edge of the sofa on his fat wrist, told Harry he'd be eleven in ten minutes' time.**

Sirius started bouncing slightly on the couch, "Harry's almost eleven!"

Remus put his hand on Sirius's shoulder to stop him bouncing, "Just read Padfoot."

**He lay and watched his birthday tick nearer, wondering if the Dursleys would remember at all, wondering where the letter writer was now.**

**Five minutes to go. Harry heard something creak outside. He hoped the roof wasn't going to fall in, although he might be warmer if it did.**

"How does that work?" asked Peter, "surely he would be colder."

Remus chuckled at his mate, "He's probably just saying he couldn't be any colder than he is at the moment."

**Four minutes to go. Maybe the house in Privet Drive would be so full of letters when they got back that he'd be able to steal one somehow.**

**Three minutes to go. Was that the sea, slapping hard on the rock like that? And (two minutes to go) what was that funny crunching noise? Was the rock crumbling into the sea?**

**One minute to go and he'd be eleven. Thirty seconds... twenty ... ten... nine -- maybe he'd wake Dudley up, just to annoy him -- three... two... one...**

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY HARRY!" yelled the boys in excitement. Lily just laughed at the foursome and people in the common room, yet again turned to the Marauders in curiosity, some wondering if they had snuck in some butterbeer or firewhisky and in there drunken state, had made up a person called Harry.

**BOOM.**

"Huh?" asked Sirius confused.

"We don't know either Black so just bloody read!" exclaimed Lily.

**The whole shack shivered and Harry sat bolt upright, staring at the door. Someone was outside, knocking to come in.**

Sirius stopped reading and the others just looked at him waiting for him to continue, "What? It's the end of the chapter," he said, turning the book around to prove his point. Sirius closed it back up and threw it on the table.

"Right who's reading now?" he sighed, leaning back into the couch.

"I will," said Lily leaning forward to grab the book…


	4. Chapter 4: The Keeper Of The Keys

Hey Guys,

Here's the next chapter.  
I'm glad you all enjoy the story so far, hopefully it goes up from here ^_^

* * *

**Chapter 4: The Keeper of the Keys **or Snuffles is an Amazing Dog.

"_Right who's reading now?" he sighed, leaning back into the couch._

"_I will," said Lily leaning forward to grab the book…_

As Lily grabbed the book, James beamed and his eyes lit up.

"Don't look _too _excited there, Prongs," chuckled Remus. Lily glanced at Remus briefly before turning back to look at James, raising an eyebrow. He quickly rearranged his features but his eyes were still glittering with excitement from the fact that Lily was reading. A small chuckle came from a couple of the boys as she shook her head slightly before turning back and finding the chapter.

**Chapter Four: The Keeper of the Keys**

"HAG-" Sirius started to yell before Remus yet again put his hand over Sirius's mouth to shut him up.

"We don't know that it's Hagrid," said Remus, slowly removing his hand when he was sure Sirius was going to be quiet.

"How to you figure that, Moony?" asked James.

"Well, Hagrid might have retired, Hogwarts might have a new 'keeper of the keys.' Or it could be nothing related to Hogwarts at all," he replied shrugging.

"Hagrid? Retire? He loves this place, and wouldn't leave for anything," retorted Sirius.

"I like Hagrid, he's nice," said Peter.

"Me too," Lily agreed, Peter looked up, he wasn't sure anyone had heard him. "Just don't eat anything he cooks," she laughed.

"Those rock cakes are deadly," grinned James.

**BOOM. They knocked again. Dudley jerked awake. **

**"Where's the cannon?" he said stupidly.**

The boys laughed.

"So he is as stupid as he looks," said Remus still laughing.

**There was a crash behind them and Uncle Vernon came skidding into the room. He was holding a rifle in his hands -- now they knew what had been in the long, thin package he had brought with them.**

**"Who's there?" he shouted. "I warn you - I'm armed!"**

**There was a pause. Then -**

**SMASH!**

Peter emitted a squeal as he hid behind a couch cushion.

"Man up Wormtail," joked Sirius

"B-B-B-But something's going to get Harry," he squeaked.

"Don't worry, he's a Potter, we're good in _all _situations," said James; as if this was an explanation that Harry was going to be fine.

**The door was hit with such force that it swung clean off its hinges and with a deafening crash landed flat on the floor.**

**A giant of a man was standing in the doorway. His face was almost completely hidden by a long, shaggy mane of hair and a wild, tangled beard, but you could make out his eyes, glinting like black beetles under all the hair.**

"HAGRID'S BACK!" James and Sirius cheered.

"He's come to save Harry!" exclaimed Peter.

Sirius and James looked at each other, "HARRY!" they both cheered again with excitement, getting up to high five each other.

Lily shook her head and Remus rolled his eyes as they both quietly laughed at the duo.

"You two are idiots," huffed Lily, "do you _want _for everyone in Gryffindor to think you're insane?"

James looked down at Lily, "Lily dearest, we Marauders aren't exactly normal are we?"

"Plus, we really couldn't give a toss what anyone thinks," added Sirius, before switching his gaze over to Remus, "and you can't deny that's not Hagrid now," he smiled smugly.

"I guess not," he sighed, "But it's brilliant that he's there. He can give Harry his letter!"

**The giant squeezed his way into the hut, stooping so that his head just brushed the ceiling. He bent down, picked up the door, and fitted it easily back into its frame. The noise of the storm outside dropped a little. He turned to look at them all.**

**"Couldn't make us a cup o' tea, could yeh? It's not been an easy journey..."**

"Can't see that happening," snorted Lily.

"The Dursleys are about as hospitable as the Slytherins," agreed Sirius.

**He strode over to the sofa where Dudley sat frozen with fear.**

**"Budge up, yeh great lump," said the stranger.**

**Dudley squeaked and ran to hide behind his mother, who was crouching, terrified, behind Uncle Vernon.**

The five laughed.

"It's only Hagrid, he's nothing to be scared about," commented Peter.

"The Dursleys don't know that," responded Remus, "all they know is a giant has broken into the house."

**"An' here's Harry!" said the giant.**

**Harry looked up into the fierce, wild, shadowy face and saw that the beetle eyes were crinkled in a smile.**

**"Las' time I saw you, you was only a baby," said the giant. "Yeh look a lot like yet dad, but yeh've got yet mom's eyes."**

James and Lily both grinned proudly at Hagrid's statement.

"I'm glad he's got your eyes Evans," said James, leaning closer to Lily, "Your gorgeous eyes, my handsomeness, Harry must be a damn good-looking kid," he continued winking at her.

Lily raised an eyebrow; "my eyes are the only thing I've going for me then, Potter?"

"No, no, Merlin no, your brilliant hair, the way you crinkle your nose when you're angry at me, your brain; you have a brilliant brain, and yo-" stumbled James until he was interrupted with a cushion to the face, which knocked him off the couch.

"Shut up Prongs, you bumbling idiot," laughed Sirius, as James got up and dusted himself off before resuming his seat on the arm of Lily's chair.

**Uncle Vernon made a funny rasping noise.**

**I demand that you leave at once, sir!" he said. "You are breaking and entering!"**

**"Ah, shut up, Dursley, yeh great prune," said the giant; he reached over the back of the sofa, jerked the gun out of Uncle Vernon's hands, bent it into a knot as easily as if it had been made of rubber, and threw it into a corner of the room.**

**Uncle Vernon made another funny noise, like a mouse being trodden on.**

"HA!" exclaimed Peter as James and Sirius high fived.

"Dursley's finally getting what he deserves," laughed Remus.

"My respect for Hagrid has increased ten fold," agreed Lily.

**"Anyway -- Harry," said the giant, turning his back on the Dursleys, "a very happy birthday to yeh. Got summat fer yeh here -- I mighta sat on it at some point, but it'll taste all right."**

**From an inside pocket of his black overcoat he pulled a slightly squashed box. Harry opened it with trembling fingers. Inside was a large, sticky chocolate cake with Happy Birthday Harry written on it in green icing.**

"Aww, that was nice of Hagrid to get that for Harry's birthday," smiled Lily.

"Bet it's the first birthday cake the poor kids ever got," said Sirius sadly.

"When we fix it, Harry's going to have lots of cakes and presents and birthday parties," said Remus.

"And he's going to play Quidditch," added Sirius.

"Best chaser Hogwarts has ever seen," beamed James. He was greeted with a series of looks from the other 4. "He's going to follow in his father's footsteps."

"We'll train him up ourselves!" agreed Sirius.

**Harry looked up at the giant. He meant to say thank you, but the words got lost on the way to his mouth, and what he said instead was, "Who are you?"**

"Harry, that's not polite!" scolded Lily.

James chuckled lightly, "Evans, you're going to be a brilliant mum."

"Well someone's got to put some order in that house, Potter. You're probably going to be the dad that's full of Quidditch and pranks, so I'll be the one that keeps the order," responded Lily, smiling up at James.

**The giant chuckled.**

**"True, I haven't introduced meself. Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts."**

**He held out an enormous hand and shook Harry's whole arm.**

Quiet laughter was emitted throughout the group.

"I hope that Hagrid sets my sister and her awful boyfriend right," muttered Lily.

**"What about that tea then, eh?" he said, rubbing his hands together. "I'd not say no ter summat stronger if yeh've got it, mind."**

**His eyes fell on the empty grate with the shrivelled chip bags in it and he snorted. He bent down over the fireplace; they couldn't see what he was doing but when he drew back a second later, there was a roaring fire there. It filled the whole damp hut with flickering light and Harry felt the warmth wash over him as though he'd sunk into a hot bath.**

"I didn't think Hagrid could do magic," said Peter.

"Don't think he's meant to," replied Remus.

"I thought he didn't have his wand anymore, so he couldn't do magic," said Lily confused.

"I think he's still got the bits somewhere," shrugged James.

**The giant sat back down on the sofa, which sagged under his weight, and began taking all sorts of things out of the pockets of his coat: a copper kettle, a squashy package of sausages, a poker, a teapot, several chipped mugs, and a bottle of some amber liquid that he took a swig from before starting to make tea. Soon the hut was full of the sound and smell of sizzling sausage. **

Sirius let out a slight moan, "It sounds so, so, so good."

"Padfoot, we just ate dinner about half an hour ago," said Remus, holding back a chuckle.

"I know," he replied, "But it sounds amazingly good," he let out another small moan.

"We could make a quick trip down to the kitchens if you're that hungry, Pads" suggested James. Sirius took a moment to think it over.

"You know where the kitchens are?" asked Lily, slightly confused.

"We know _all _the school's secrets," smirked James, turning back to Sirius, "So Padfoot, to kitchen or not to kitchen?"

"Kitchen, I'm suddenly starving," replied Sirius, getting up of the couch.

"You're always starving," grinned Remus.

"Not always, just whenever food it brought up," he shrugged, "Anyone want anything in particular?"

James and Sirius took everyone's orders; some chicken for Peter, muffins for Lily and treacle tart for Remus. It was about fifteen minutes before they came back, arms full with food and drinks, which they dropped onto the table in the middle.

"Right, you can go on now Lily," said Sirius through a mouth full of food.

**Nobody said a thing while the giant was working, but as he slid the first six fat, juicy, slightly burnt sausages from the poker, Dudley fidgeted a little. Uncle Vernon said sharply, "Don't touch anything he gives you, Dudley."**

**The giant chuckled darkly.**

**"Yet great puddin' of a son don' need fattenin' anymore, Dursley, don' worry."**

"Yeah, Duddykins doesn't need anymore food, he's fat enough as it is," agreed Sirius, his mouth still full of food.

"You're one to talk," scoffed Remus.

"Black, the amount of food you consume borders on disgusting," said Lily, staring at Sirius.

"It's one of those things, you don't want to look but you can't tear yourself away from it," explained James, his eyes too watching Sirius while he drinking a butterbeer.

"Usually you're not much better, Prongs," smirked Remus.

"I think we're both better than Duddy though," said James.

**He passed the sausages to Harry, who was so hungry he had never tasted anything so wonderful, but he still couldn't take his eyes off the giant. Finally, as nobody seemed about to explain anything, he said, "I'm sorry, but I still don't really know who you are."**

**The giant took a gulp of tea and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.**

**"Call me Hagrid," he said, "everyone does. An' like I told yeh, I'm Keeper of Keys at Hogwarts -- yeh'll know all about Hogwarts, o' course."**

"Think again," scoffed Peter.

"Hagrid seems to be overestimating the Dursleys ability to look after Harry," said Remus.

**"Er -- no," said Harry.**

**Hagrid looked shocked.**

**"Sorry," Harry said quickly.**

**"**_**Sorry?"**_** barked Hagrid, turning to stare at the Dursleys, who shrank back into the shadows. "It' s them as should be sorry! I knew yeh weren't gettin' yer letters but I never thought yeh wouldn't even know abou' Hogwarts, fer cryin' out loud! Did yeh never wonder where yet parents learned it all?"**

**"All what?" asked Harry.**

**"ALL WHAT?" Hagrid thundered. "Now wait jus' one second!"**

"They're in for it now," agreed James, his eyes gleaming.

"Dursley should have known that he wouldn't be able to run away from us," grinned Sirius.

"Petunia should have known not to mess with my son," said Lily, "I'm actually glad he's scaring the life out of them, they deserve it."

"Here's hoping he curses one of them," smirked James.

**He had leapt to his feet. In his anger he seemed to fill the whole hut. The Dursleys were cowering against the wall.**

**"Do you mean ter tell me," he growled at the Dursleys, "that this boy -- this boy! -- knows nothin' abou' -- about ANYTHING?"**

**Harry thought this was going a bit far. He had been to school, after all, and his marks weren't bad.**

"Aww, poor Harry," said Lily, her eyes sad.

"He's so oblivious," stated Peter.

"It's not his fault Wormtail!" said James, a sharp tone lacing his voice, the others looked at him surprised. "Sorry, uh got a carried away there," he apologised sheepishly.

**"I know **_**some**_** things," he said. "I can, you know, do math and stuff." But Hagrid simply waved his hand and said, "About our world, I mean. **_**Your**_** world. My world. **_**Yer parents' world**_**."**

**"What world?"**

**Hagrid looked as if he was about to explode.**

**"DURSLEY!" he boomed.**

"Is it wrong that we are all so happy that the Dursleys are terrified?" asked Lily, smiling.

The boys laughed.

"It would be wrong, if the Dursleys were nice, kind people who had done nothing wrong," replied Remus.

"And the Dursleys are none of those things," added Sirius.

**Uncle Vernon, who had gone very pale, whispered something that sounded like "Mimblewimble." Hagrid stared wildly at Harry.**

The five burst out into fits of laughter.

"This is brilliant!" grinned James.

**"But yeh must know about yet mom and dad," he said. "I mean, they're**_** famous**_**. **_**You're**_** famous."**

Lily and James both beamed.

"We're famous, Evans! You and me, famous!" said an excited James, looking down at Lily.

"It's actually kind of hard to believe, you and I are famous… together… married… together…" replied Lily

"Well marriage usually means together Evans, thought you would have known that," said Sirius, trying to keep the laughter out.

Lily glared at Sirius before speaking, "I'm still getting used to the idea, I've spent the last 6 years hating Potter, it's weird to think I'm marrying him."

**"What? My -- my mom and dad weren't famous, were they?"**

**"Yeh don' know... yeh don' know..." Hagrid ran his fingers through his hair, fixing Harry with a bewildered stare.**

**"Yeh don' know what yeh are?" he said finally.**

**Uncle Vernon suddenly found his voice.**

**"Stop!" he commanded. "Stop right there, sir! I forbid you to tell the boy anything!"**

"Butt out Dursley. You can't do anything," muttered Remus.

"It's inevitable," agreed Lily.

**A braver man than Vernon Dursley would have quailed under the furious look Hagrid now gave him; when Hagrid spoke, his every syllable trembled with rage.**

**"You never told him? Never told him what was in the letter Dumbledore left fer him? I was there! I saw Dumbledore leave it, Dursley! An' you've kept it from him all these years?"**

**"Kept what from me?" said Harry eagerly.**

**"STOP! I FORBID YOU!" yelled Uncle Vernon in panic.**

"SHUT UP DURSLEY!" yelled Sirius, James and Remus, they heard a couple of Gryffindors laugh in the background but they didn't really take notice.

"Why can't he just sod off?" grumbled Lily once the boys had settled down.

**Aunt Petunia gave a gasp of horror.**

**"Ah, go boil yet heads, both of yeh," said Hagrid. "Harry - yer' a wizard."**

They all smiled.

"Finally," sighed Remus.

"The truth comes out," said Sirius.

**There was silence inside the hut. Only the sea and the whistling wind could be heard.**

**"-- a what?" gasped Harry.**

**"A wizard, o' course," said Hagrid, sitting back down on the sofa, which groaned and sank even lower, "an' a thumpin' good'un, I'd say, once yeh've been trained up a bit. With a mum an' dad like yours, what else would yeh be? An' I reckon it's abou' time yeh read yer letter."**

"Yes!" exclaimed Peter.

"Harry gets his letter!" grinned Remus.

"Hagrid thinks we're brilliant, and that Harry's going to be brilliant too," said James under his breath, smiling at the thought.

No one but Lily heard him so she looked up at him and smiled. "We are pretty good aren't we?" she joked, "and Harry's going to be even better."

James laughed quietly, it was extremely rare for him and Lily to have moments like this, and so rare it had never actually happened before. He knew the other three were talking about Harry's Hogwarts letter, he smiled at Lily before she turned back to continue reading.

**Harry stretched out his hand at last to take the yellowish envelope, addressed in emerald green to Mr. H. Potter, The Floor, Hut-on-the-Rock, The Sea. He pulled out the letter and read:**

_**HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY**_

_**Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE**_

_**(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)**_

_**Dear Mr. Potter,**_

_**We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.**_

_**Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.**_

_**Yours sincerely,**_

_**Minerva McGonagall,**_

_**Deputy Headmistress**_

They all were quiet as they reminisced about when they got their letters.

"Mum and Dad were so proud when I got my letter, they were relieved that all the weird things that were happening were magic and not something more insane," laughed Lily.

"When I got my letter, dad spent the whole day showing me stuff from when he was in Hogwarts, I wanted to be in Gryffindor even more after that," grinned James.

"My parents were proud, but worried because of my… condition. But they told me about all the classes and everything at Hogwarts," smiled Remus.

"Orion and Walburga were going on about how they wanted me to be in Slytherin," grimaced Sirius, "make them proud and all that."

"Mum and dad were surprised when I got my letter, but they were proud," said Peter, with a small smile.

**Questions exploded inside Harry's head like fireworks and he couldn't decide which to ask first. After a few minutes he stammered, "What does it mean, they await my owl?"**

**"Gallopin' Gorgons, that reminds me," said Hagrid, clapping a hand to his forehead with enough force to knock over a cart horse, and from yet another pocket inside his overcoat he pulled an owl -- a real, live, rather ruffled-looking owl -- a long quill, and a roll of parchment. **

"Hagrid always surprises me with what he can pull out of that jacket," laughed Lily.

"I feel sorry for that poor owl," said Remus.

**With his tongue between his teeth he scribbled a note that Harry could read upside down:**

_**Dear Professor Dumbledore,**_

_**Given Harry his letter. Taking him to buy his things tomorrow. Weather's horrible. Hope you're Well.**_

_**Hagrid**_

**Hagrid rolled up the note, gave it to the owl, which clamped it in its beak, went to the door, and threw the owl out into the storm. Then he came back and sat down as though this was as normal as talking on the telephone.**

**Harry realised his mouth was open and closed it quickly.**

**"Where was I?" said Hagrid, but at that moment, Uncle Vernon, still ashen-faced but looking very angry, moved into the firelight.**

**"He's not going," he said.**

"Yes he is," grumbled James.

"If he doesn't I swear, I'll knock Dursley from here to Spain," muttered Remus.

**Hagrid grunted.**

**"I'd like ter see a great Muggle like you stop him," he said.**

**"A what?" said Harry, interested.**

**"A Muggle," said Hagrid, "it's what we call nonmagic folk like thern. An' it's your bad luck you grew up in a family o' the biggest Muggles I ever laid eyes on."**

"Hear, hear!" cheered Sirius in agreement.

"I've never met, well heard of a bunch of Muggles quite like the Dursleys," said James.

"It may be hard to believe but Pet can be very nice," Lily said, looking at the boys, "She used to be my best friend," she looked down sighing, Remus looked at James, gesturing to Lily, 'comfort her,' he mouthed. James looked confused for a moment before he got it and put his arm around her.

"It's alright, Evans," he said, a slight awkward tone lacing his voice. Lily looked up at James.  
"I know, it just gets to be sometimes." She responded.

**"We swore when we took him in we'd put a stop to that rubbish," said Uncle Vernon, "swore we'd stamp it out of him! Wizard indeed!"**

**"You knew?" said Harry. "You knew I'm a -- a wizard?"**

**"Knew!" shrieked Aunt Petunia suddenly. "Knew! Of course we knew! How could you not be, my dratted sister being what she was? Oh, she got a letter just like that and disappeared off to that-that school-and came home every vacation with her pockets full of frog spawn, turning teacups into rats. I was the only one who saw her for what she was -- a freak! But for my mother and father, oh no, it was Lily this and Lily that, they were proud of having a witch in the family!"**

"You were saying, Evans?" smirked Sirius.

Lily was muttering under her breath, her eyes furious. "I can't _believe _that she would… that… I _hate _her. She's just jealous because I got into Hogwarts and she didn't! I can't believe her!" she said, her voice getting louder and louder as she went on. The boys looked at her in amazement.

"I know girls have mood swings, but bloody hell never seen one like this before," joked James to the other boys. Lily heard him and turned around.

"Well _Potter, _I'm _so sorry _if I'm a bit angry because my sister basically admitted she hated me. You are such an insensitive git, I can't believe I kind of thought you were sort of semi decent," she growled.

James gulped as he looked up at his friends, silently asking for help which they shook their heads.

"Evans, you know I didn't mean it, it was a joke," gulped James again, "Wait, you thought I was kind of semi decent," his eyes lit up. "Oh Tiger Lily, I knew you loved me," he winked at her, hoping she'd forget his previous idiotic behaviour.

She rolled her eyes sighing and went back to the book.

**She stopped to draw a deep breath and then went ranting on. It seemed she had been wanting to say all this for years.**

**"Then she met that Potter at school and they left and got married and had you, and of course I knew you'd be just the same, just as strange, just as -- as -- **_**abnormal**_** -- and then, if you please, she went and got herself blown up and we got landed with you!"**

Lily again narrowed her eyes, "I'll marry who I bloody want, even if it is Potter. Glad I'm not going home this Christmas, don't think I could handle Petunia after this."

"Petunia should be bloody grateful to get a child like Harry, he's a nice kid," added Remus.

"And it's not like me and Evans _wanted _to get ourselves blown up. 'Good morning Love, what would you like to do today?' 'Oh I think I'd like to get blown up, it would be brilliant fun.' That sounds about right," scoffed James.

**Harry had gone very white. As soon as he found his voice he said, "Blown up? You told me they died in a car crash!"**

**"CAR CRASH!" roared Hagrid, jumping up so angrily that the Dursleys scuttled back to their corner. "How could a car crash kill Lily an' James Potter? It's an outrage! A scandal! Harry Potter not knowin' his own story when every kid in our world knows his name!"**

"Outrage!" repeated Peter, they all agreed.

"Should get child services onto them," said Sirius, half joking, half serious.

"A car crash couldn't kill me and Lily, we're so much stronger than that," grinned James.

**"But why? What happened?" Harry asked urgently.**

**The anger faded from Hagrid's face. He looked suddenly anxious.**

**"I never expected this," he said, in a low, worried voice. "I had no idea, when Dumbledore told me there might be trouble gettin' hold of yeh, how much yeh didn't know. Ah, Harry, I don' know if I'm the right person ter tell yeh -- but someone's gotta -- yeh can't go off ter Hogwarts not knowin'."**

**He threw a dirty look at the Dursleys.**

"If he is as famous as Hagrid is say, Hogwarts is going to be… interesting for him," said Remus.

"To say the least," scoffed Sirius.

**"Well, it's best yeh know as much as I can tell yeh -- mind, I can't tell yeh everythin', it's a great myst'ry, parts of it...."**

**He sat down, stared into the fire for a few seconds, and then said, "It begins, I suppose, with -- with a person called -- but it's incredible yeh don't know his name, everyone in our world knows --"**

**"Who? "**

**"Well -- I don' like sayin' the name if I can help it. No one does."**

"Still?" asked Lily, "He's been gone for 10 years or so now."

"Well he did leave quite an… impression on everyone," responded James.

"You-Know-Who is very terrifying," said Peter.

"Professor Dumbledore is right, all this You-Know-Who nonsense, it's only a name?" huffed Sirius.

"Some people aren't as brave as you and I Paddy," said James, grinning at Sirius.

**"Why not?"**

**"Gulpin' gargoyles, Harry, people are still scared. Blimey, this is difficult. See, there was this wizard who went... bad. As bad as you could go. Worse. Worse than worse. His name was..."**

**Hagrid gulped, but no words came out.**

**"Could you write it down?" Harry suggested.**

**"Nah -can't spell it. All right -- **_**Voldemort**_**. " Hagrid shuddered. "Don' make me say it again. Anyway, this -- this wizard, about twenty years ago now, started lookin' fer followers. Got 'em, too -- some were afraid, some just wanted a bit o' his power, 'cause he was gettin' himself power, all right. Dark days, Harry. Didn't know who ter trust, didn't dare get friendly with strange wizards or witches... terrible things happened. He was takin' over. 'Course, some stood up to him -- an' he killed 'em. Horribly. One o' the only safe places left was Hogwarts. Reckon Dumbledore's the only one You-Know-Who was afraid of. Didn't dare try takin' the school, not jus' then, anyway.**

"That's true, he does seem scared of Professor Dumbledore," said Remus.

"Makes sense, he is one of the most powerful wizards around," agreed Lily.

"Listening to what Hagrid was telling Harry, it only seems to get worse from here, I thought it was bad at the moment," said Sirius.

**"Now, yer mum an' dad were as good a witch an' wizard as I ever knew.**

James and Lily both grinned.

**Head boy an' girl at Hogwarts in their day! Suppose the myst'ry is why You-Know-Who never tried to get 'em on his side before... probably knew they were too close ter Dumbledore ter want anythin' ter do with the Dark Side.**

"Dumbledore's man, through and through," beamed James.

"He's a genius," agreed Lily.

**"Maybe he thought he could persuade 'em... maybe he just wanted 'em outta the way. All anyone knows is, he turned up in the village where you was all living, on Halloween ten years ago. You was just a year old. He came ter yer house an' -- an' --"**

James and Lily's smiles fell and the faces of all five of the people around the fire dropped.

"Never even got to see Harry grow up," sighed Lily.

"You will, Evans, don't worry we'll work it out," said James comforting her.

**Hagrid suddenly pulled out a very dirty, spotted handkerchief and blew his nose with a sound like a foghorn.**

**"Sorry," he said. "But it's that sad -- knew yer mum an' dad, an' nicer people yeh couldn't find -- anyway..."**

They all smiled again.

"It's true," agreed Remus.

"Well maybe in Lily's case, even I will admit that Prongs is a bit conceded," said Sirius, who was greeted with a look of shock from James, "Well you got to admit you are, mate, I am too," he grinned.

"I'm still nice. I'm a great person," whined James.

"Of course you are, James," said Lily, patting James on the knee. James looked up, a gleam in his eyes and his face beaming.

"You called me James!" he exclaimed, which made the other three Marauders laugh.

"Don't get used to it, Potter," replied Lily, a small grumble in her voice. James's face fell slightly but was put to its former glory when Lily winked at him before she restarted reading.

**"You-Know-Who killed 'em. An' then -- an' this is the real myst'ry of the thing -- he tried to kill you, too. Wanted ter make a clean job of it, I suppose, or maybe he just liked killin' by then. But he couldn't do it. Never wondered how you got that mark on yer forehead? That was no ordinary cut. That's what yeh get when a Powerful, evil curse touches yeh -- took care of yer mum an' dad an' yer house, even -- but it didn't work on you, an' that's why yer famous, Harry. No one ever lived after he decided ter kill 'em, no one except you, an' he'd killed some o' the best witches an' wizards of the age -- the McKinnons, the Bones, the Prewetts -- an' you was only a baby, an' you lived."**

"Our son is brilliant!" exclaimed James.

"You already knew that, Prongs," laughed Remus.

"I know, I just wanted to remind you all of the exceptional offspring that me and Lily produced," replied James, laughing.

**Something very painful was going on in Harry's mind. As Hagrid's story came to a close, he saw again the blinding flash of green light, more clearly than he had ever remembered it before -- and he remembered something else, for the first time in his life: a high, cold, cruel laugh.**

**Hagrid was watching him sadly.**

**"Took yeh from the ruined house myself, on Dumbledore's orders. Brought yeh ter this lot..."**

**"Load of old tosh," said Uncle Vernon. Harry jumped; he had almost forgotten that the Dursleys were there.**

"Damn, I was kind of hoping they had left," muttered Sirius.

**Uncle Vernon certainly seemed to have got back his courage. He was glaring at Hagrid and his fists were clenched.**

**"Now, you listen here, boy," he snarled, "I accept there's something strange about you, probably nothing a good beating wouldn't have cured **

"WHAT?!" yelled all five Gryffindors.

"Vernon Dursley, you are never laying a single hand on my son," growled Lily threateningly.

"You do Dursley and I'll send Snuffles out on you," added James, which made Sirius, Remus and Peter laugh.

"Snuffles?" asked Lily confused.

"Snuffles is Sirius's pet dog, great temperament but get on his bad side and you know it," said James, making the other three boys laugh harder.

"He's an amazing dog really," agreed Sirius, between laughter.

Lily just nodded, knowing better than to ask questions.

**and as for all this about your parents, well, they were weirdoes, no denying it, and the world's better off without them in my opinion -- asked for all they got, getting mixed up with these wizarding types -- just what I expected, always knew they'd come to a sticky end --"**

Sirius growled, Remus and Peter both glared at the book and Lily and James looked furious.

"Petunia may not like you but she should at _least _defend your death, you were _sisters _after all," said Remus, shifting his focus from the book to Lily.

"Well she did like to pretend we weren't related so her behavour doesn't actually surprise me," said Lily sounding surprisingly levelheaded.

**But at that moment, Hagrid leapt from the sofa and drew a battered pink umbrella from inside his coat. Pointing this at Uncle Vernon like a sword, he said, "I'm warning you, Dursley -I'm warning you -- one more word... "**

**In danger of being speared on the end of an umbrella by a bearded giant, Uncle Vernon's courage failed again; he flattened himself against the wall and fell silent.**

"Dursley better not say another word," muttered Remus.

**"That's better," said Hagrid, breathing heavily and sitting back down on the sofa, which this time sagged right down to the floor.**

**Harry, meanwhile, still had questions to ask, hundreds of them. **

**"But what happened to Vol--, sorry -- I mean, You-Know-Who?"**

**"Good question, Harry. Disappeared. Vanished. Same night he tried ter kill you. Makes yeh even more famous. That's the biggest myst'ry, see... he was gettin' more an' more powerful -- why'd he go?**

**"Some say he died. Codswallop, in my opinion. Dunno if he had enough human left in him to die. Some say he's still out there, bidin' his time, like, but I don' believe it. People who was on his side came back ter ours. Some of 'em came outta kinda trances. Don' reckon they could've done if he was comin' back.**

"So death eaters came back? They can't do that, can they?" asked Sirius.

"All the death eaters they catch get thrown in Azkaban," replied Lily.

"They couldn't just let them go," agreed Remus.

**"Most of us reckon he's still out there somewhere but lost his powers. Too weak to carry on. 'Cause somethin' about you finished him, Harry. There was somethin' goin' on that night he hadn't counted on -- I dunno what it was, no one does -- but somethin' about you stumped him, all right."**

"S-s-s-so You-Know-Who could still be there? A-a-alive?" stuttered Peter.

They all shared worried looks.

"It's just people's thoughts, he could be dead," said James trying to comfort Peter and any other thoughts of worry.

**Hagrid looked at Harry with warmth and respect blazing in his eyes, but Harry, instead of feeling pleased and proud, felt quite sure there had been a horrible mistake. A wizard? Him? How could he possibly be? He'd spent his life being clouted by Dudley, and bullied by Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon; if he was really a wizard, why hadn't they been turned into warty toads every time they'd tried to lock him in his cupboard? If he'd once defeated the greatest sorcerer in the world, how come Dudley had always been able to kick him around like a football?**

**"Hagrid," he said quietly, "I think you must have made a mistake. I don't think I can be a wizard."**

"Of course you are Harry, don't be daft," chuckled Sirius.

"That snake didn't escape itself," added James.

**To his surprise, Hagrid chuckled.**

**"Not a wizard, eh? Never made things happen when you was scared or angry?"**

**Harry looked into the fire. Now he came to think about it... every odd thing that had ever made his aunt and uncle furious with him had happened when he, Harry, had been upset or angry... chased by Dudley's gang, he had somehow found himself out of their reach... dreading going to school with that ridiculous haircut, he'd managed to make it grow back... and the very last time Dudley had hit him, hadn't he got his revenge, without even realising he was doing it? Hadn't he set a boa constrictor on him?**

**Harry looked back at Hagrid, smiling, and saw that Hagrid was positively beaming at him.**

**"See?" said Hagrid. "Harry Potter, not a wizard -- you wait, you'll be right famous at Hogwarts."**

"See Harry, as Prongs said, the snake didn't escape itself," said Remus.

"You know, saying Harry Potter is not a wizard is like say that Sirius Black is a Slytherin," joked James.

"And that's completely wrong and stupid," chuckled Sirius.

"Like the rest of your family then Pads?" said James, raising an eyebrow.

"At least ninety percent of them anyway," laughed Sirius.

**But Uncle Vernon wasn't going to give in without a fight.**

**"Haven't I told you he's not going?" he hissed. "He's going to Stonewall High and he'll be grateful for it. I've read those letters and he needs all sorts of rubbish -- spell books and wands and --"**

"He's _not going_ to Stonewall High and he'll be grateful for it," amended Lily.

"He's going to Hogwarts and he's going to bloody love it!" grinned James, adding to Lily's statement.

**"If he wants ter go, a great Muggle like you won't stop him," growled Hagrid. "Stop Lily an' James Potter' s son goin' ter Hogwarts! Yer mad.**

The four boys and Lily cheered.

"You tell him Hagrid!" said Sirius.

**His name's been down ever since he was born. He's off ter the finest school of witchcraft and wizardry in the world. Seven years there and he won't know himself. He'll be with youngsters of his own sort, fer a change, an' he'll be under the greatest headmaster Hogwarts ever had Albus Dumbled--"**

**"I AM NOT PAYING FOR SOME CRACKPOT OLD FOOL TO TEACH HIM MAGIC TRICKS!" yelled Uncle Vernon.**

"That's the worst thing to say to Hagrid," said Remus.

"You never insult Professor Dumbledore infront of Hagrid," agreed James.

**But he had finally gone too far. Hagrid seized his umbrella and whirled it over his head, "NEVER," he thundered, "- INSULT- ALBUS- DUMBLEDORE- IN- FRONT- OF- ME!"**

"Tried to warn you Dursley," said James in a sing-song voice.

"Maybe he'll curse one of them," suggested Sirius, his eyes gleaming.

"Here's hoping," replied Lily, surprising the boys.

"Not that I approve," she amended, "But I'm not particularly fond of the Dursleys at the moment."

**He brought the umbrella swishing down through the air to point at Dudley -- there was a flash of violet light, a sound like a firecracker, a sharp squeal, and the next second, Dudley was dancing on the spot with his hands clasped over his fat bottom, howling in pain. When he turned his back on them, Harry saw a curly pig's tail poking through a hole in his trousers.**

The five roared with laughter.

"That's brilliant!" said Sirius through fits of laughter.

"Absolutely amazing," agreed James, as he fell onto the chair behind Lily, who was leaning forward, holding her stomach.

"At least Dudley now looks how he should," grinned Remus.

The laughter slowly settled down and Lily turned around to see James still lazing in the back of her chair, she raised an eyebrow and waited for him to move.

"Not moving, Evans. I'm actually quite comfortable, so you're either going to have just to get used to be being here or make the most of it and lean back and make yourself comfortable against me," smirked James. There was quiet laughter coming from the other Marauders as they watched.

"I'll just have to lean more forward then won't I?" she replied, moving forward slightly, a hints of a smug smile on her face.

**Uncle Vernon roared. Pulling Aunt Petunia and Dudley into the other room, he cast one last terrified look at Hagrid and slammed the door behind them.**

**Hagrid looked down at his umbrella and stroked his beard.**

**"Shouldn'ta lost me temper," he said ruefully, "but it didn't work anyway. Meant ter turn him into a pig, but I suppose he was so much like a pig anyway there wasn't much left ter do."**

"Truer words have never been spoken," said Sirius, picking up a Butterbeer and handing one to James, as he asked for one too.

"Hear, hear!" agreed James, clinking his bottle with Sirius's.

"So his wand bits are in his umbrella then?" asked Lily.

"Apparently so," chuckled Remus.

**He cast a sideways look at Harry under his bushy eyebrows.**

**"Be grateful if yeh didn't mention that ter anyone at Hogwarts," he said. "I'm -- er -- not supposed ter do magic, strictly speakin'. I was allowed ter do a bit ter follow yeh an' get yer letters to yeh an' stuff -- one o' the reasons I was so keen ter take on the job**

**"Why aren't you supposed to do magic?" asked Harry.**

**"Oh, well -- I was at Hogwarts meself but I -- er -- got expelled, ter tell yeh the truth. In me third year. They snapped me wand in half an' everything. But Dumbledore let me stay on as gamekeeper. Great man, Dumbledore." **

"To Dumbledore!" said James raising his bottle.

"Dumbledore!" chorused the boys, James and Sirius raised their bottles; James had a bit of trouble as he was sitting behind Lily, and Peter and Remus grabbed bottles to join in.

"What have I gotten into?" muttered Lily.

"I know you love it Evans," winked James.

**"Why were you expelled?"**

**"It's gettin' late and we've got lots ter do tomorrow," said Hagrid loudly. "Gotta get up ter town, get all yer books an' that."**

"Why was Hagrid expelled?" asked Peter.

"Don't know, he doesn't like to talk about it," shrugged Remus.

"Maybe something really bad happened," suggested Sirius.

"Really?" said Lily rolling her eyes, "Never would have guessed that,"

**He took off his thick black coat and threw it to Harry.**

**"You can kip under that," he said. "Don' mind if it wriggles a bit, I think I still got a couple o' dormice in one o' the pockets."**

Lily put the book on the table, turning it over to keep the pages open, and went to lean back on her chair until she remembered James was sitting behind her and sat back up.

"Harry's going to Hogwaaarts," sang Sirius.

"So Harry's going to Diagon Alley next?" asked Peter.

"Probably," answered James, "I hope he buys a broomstick."

Lily turned around and looked at James, "He isn't buying a broomstick,"

"Why the bloody hell not?" exclaimed James, raising his head quickly in surprise.

"Well for one thing, Harry is a first year, and they can't have broomsticks, and two Quidditch is dangerous," explained Lily.

"Dangerous?!" yelled James, "Quidditch is brilliant! And he has to play it runs through his blood, all the Potter men play Quidditch!"

Lily knew that no one wins a battle about Quidditch against James Potter, so she just glared at him before she whipped her head back around.

"Who's reading next then?" she asked. Peter was the only one who hadn't read a chapter yet, but he was hiding behind a cushion hoping he wouldn't have to read.

"Well, obviously Wormtail isn't up to reading," he chuckled, looking away from Peter, he grabbed the book and threw it to James, "Prongs?"

James caught it and opened it up, "Sure, lets see if Harry gets a broom!" he grinned winking at the back of Lily's head.


	5. Chapter 5: Diagon Alley

**Hey guys!  
Sorry it's been a while. So much has been happening, went to the snow with some friends, been sick... more than once =[ and work.  
But I'm back now, with a new chapter.  
This chapter is a bit longer than the other ones, Diagon Alley is a longer chapter than I remember it to be. haha  
Enjoy! **

* * *

**Chapter Five: Diagon Alley **or the incredibly awesome Gringotts dragons.

"_Well, obviously Wormtail isn't up to reading," he chuckled, looking away from Peter, he grabbed the book and threw it to James, "Prongs?" _

_James caught it and opened it up, "Sure, lets see if Harry gets a broom!" he grinned winking at the back of Lily's head._

James opened the book and leaned it on his knees, as he watched Lily reposition herself so she was leaning on the armchair the same way James was.

"What?" she asked as he looked at her surprised.

"What's all this?" he asked in response, gesturing widely to the way she was sitting.

"If you're not going to move, I may as well make myself comfortable," she shrugged. James looked over Lily at the other boys and grinned, making them laugh. Lily looked back and forth between James and the other boys.

Lily just rolled her eyes and decided to ignore the boys.

**Harry woke early the next morning. Although he could tell it was daylight, he kept his eyes shut tight.**

**"It was a dream, he told himself firmly. "I dreamed a giant called Hagrid came to tell me I was going to a school for wizards. When I open my eyes I'll be at home in my cupboard."**

**There was suddenly a loud tapping noise.**

**And there's Aunt Petunia knocking on the door, Harry thought, his heart sinking. But he still didn't open his eyes. It had been such a good dream.**

**Tap. Tap. Tap.**

Suddenly there was a tap, tap, tap throughout the room.

Everyone looked around to find Sirius knocking on the table, and they all looked at him curiously.

"What?" he responded, "I thought it would add a different dimension to Prongs' reading," he explained grinning.

James laughed, while Remus hit him in the back of the head, "In that case maybe we should recreate what Hagrid did to Dudley in the last chapter."

"Brilliant, let's find a Slytherin to test it on," agreed James, Sirius's eyes lit up and Peter started bouncing. Lily just looked at James with a disapproving glare.

Remus contemplated this for a moment before shaking his head, "I was thinking the person who came up with the idea of adding a new dimension to the book in the first place," he said looking over at Sirius with an evil glint in his eyes.

"Moony, Moony, Moony you'd never hurt me. For one thing, you love me, another being that you're too nice and good to hurt me like that," responded Sirius, smiling at Remus before patting him on the head.

"He has a point, Moony," agreed James before Remus could retaliate.

**"All right," Harry mumbled, "I'm getting up."**

**He sat up and Hagrid's heavy coat fell off him. The hut was full of sunlight, the storm was over, Hagrid himself was asleep on the collapsed sofa, and there was an owl rapping its claw on the window, a newspaper held in its beak.**

"Daily Prophet," stated James and Sirius in unison.

"Well done geniuses," scoffed Lily.

"Thank you," replied Sirius, not quite catching Lily's tone.

**Harry scrambled to his feet, so happy he felt as though a large balloon was swelling inside him. **

**He went straight to the window and jerked it open. The owl swooped in and dropped the newspaper on top of Hagrid, who didn't wake up. The owl then fluttered onto the floor and began to attack Hagrid's coat.**

**"Don't do that."**

**Harry tried to wave the owl out of the way, but it snapped its beak fiercely at him and carried on savaging the coat.**

"Those owls are always so angry," commented Remus.

"I got bitten by one this morning," agreed Peter, raising his arm where there were numerous claw marks and bites.

"Wormtail, you hit it on the head with a cup, of course it's going to be angry at you," explained James.

"It was accidental," muttered Peter.

"Doesn't matter Wormy, not like the owl knew that," added Sirius.

**"Hagrid!" said Harry loudly. "There's an owl."**

**"Pay him," Hagrid grunted into the sofa.**

**"What?"**

**"He wants payin' fer deliverin' the paper. Look in the pockets." Hagrid's coat seemed to be made of nothing but pockets -- bunches of keys, slug pellets, balls of string, peppermint humbugs, teabags... finally, Harry pulled out a handful of strange-looking coins.**

**"Give him five Knuts," said Hagrid sleepily.**

**"Knuts?"**

**"The little bronze ones."**

**Harry counted out five little bronze coins, and the owl held out his leg so Harry could put the money into a small leather pouch tied to it. Then he flew off through the open window.**

**Hagrid yawned loudly, sat up, and stretched.**

**"Best be off, Harry, lots ter do today, gotta get up ter London an' buy all yer stuff fer school."**

Sirius nodded eagerly, "Off you go, Diagon Alley awaits!"

"Potion ingredients to buy and books to read," agreed Lily.

James laughed, "Potions? Books? I think you are mistaken Evans, I think you mean broomsticks to buy and pranks to play."

"I will not have _my son _slacking off and playing pranks like you, Potter. He will study and do well in his classes," argued Lily.

"Not necessary, Evans. Potters are naturals when it comes to magic. Harry doesn't need to study," disagreed James with a slight arrogance lacing his voice, to which Lily narrowed her eyes.

**Harry was turning over the wizard coins and looking at them. He had just thought of something that made him feel as though the happy balloon inside him had got a puncture.**

"Pop!" said Sirius, pretending to pop an air balloon.

"Another dimension?" smirked James with a raised eyebrow.

"It works don't you think Prongs? The story is so much better with my little effects," replied Sirius, chuckling.

"Think I could do without," muttered Lily, Remus agreed.

"I quite like them!" nodded Wormtail enthusiastically.

"Of course you do ,Wormtail," chuckled Remus.

**"Um -- Hagrid?"**

**"Mm?" said Hagrid, who was pulling on his huge boots.**

**"I haven't got any money -- and you heard Uncle Vernon last night ... he won't pay for me to go and learn magic."**

"Do you really think your parents left you with nothing Harry?" questioned Sirius, looking at the book.

"Yeah, me and your mum will always look after you," agreed James.

"You'll have plenty of money too, James is fairly wealthy after all," added Remus.

**"Don't worry about that," said Hagrid, standing up and scratching his head. "D'yeh think yer parents didn't leave yeh anything?"**

**"But if their house was destroyed --"**

"Don't Muggles have banks?" asked Peter confused.

"They do," nodded Lily.  
"Why did Harry think that you and James kept the money in the house then?" he asked again.

"Maybe he's just a bit thick?" suggested Sirius chuckling. To which James threw a cushion at him.

"_Maybe _he just doesn't know Wizards have banks too," replied Lily.

**"They didn' keep their gold in the house, boy! Nah, first stop fer us is Gringotts. Wizards' bank. Have a sausage, they're not bad cold -- an' I wouldn' say no teh a bit o' yer birthday cake, neither."**

**"Wizards have banks?"**

Lily grinned smugly at Sirius, who looked down at his feet grumbling incoherently.

**"Just the one. Gringotts. Run by goblins."**

**Harry dropped the bit of sausage he was holding.**

**"Goblins?"**

"First time I went into Gringotts those goblins scared me, they were so creepy looking," said Lily, with a slight grimice.

"They aren't so bad, very misunderstood creatures," replied Sirius.

"Hardly misunderstood Paddy," said James, "Everyone knows goblins mean business. They are very good at what they do."

"It doesn't change the fact that they are creepy looking," restated Lily, wrinkling her nose.

"Never judge a book by its cover, Lils," said Remus, with a gleam in his eye, "And that doesn't just go for goblins," Lily just looked at him in confusion as James restarted reading.

**"Yeah -- so yeh'd be mad ter try an' rob it, I'll tell yeh that. Never mess with goblins, Harry. Gringotts is the safest place in the world fer anything yeh want ter keep safe -- 'cept maybe Hogwarts. As a matter o' fact, I gotta visit Gringotts anyway. Fer Dumbledore. Hogwarts business." Hagrid drew himself up proudly.**

"Hagrid's always boasting about how Dumbledore relies on him," laughed Remus.

"It is something to boast about I guess, Dumbledore is a great man after all," shrugged Lily.

**"He usually gets me ter do important stuff fer him. Fetchin' you gettin' things from Gringotts -- knows he can trust me, see.**

**"Got everythin'? Come on, then."**

**Harry followed Hagrid out onto the rock. The sky was quite clear now and the sea gleamed in the sunlight. The boat Uncle Vernon had hired was still there, with a lot of water in the bottom after the storm.**

**"How did you get here?" Harry asked, looking around for another boat.**

**"Flew," said Hagrid.**

"Flew?" asked a slightly confused Lily, "Hagrid couldn't fit on a broom could he?"

"A slightly larger broom probably but he didn't bring one in with him," replied James, just as confused.

"Perhaps he apparated?" suggested Sirius.

"But he would have said that wouldn't he? Apparation and flying are two very different things," explained Remus.

"Unless he hid the very large broom in his coat with everything else. I mean he did have an owl in there," added James.

**"Flew?"**

**"Yeah -- but we'll go back in this. Not s'pposed ter use magic now I've got yeh."**

**They settled down in the boat, Harry still staring at Hagrid, trying to imagine him flying.**

**"Seems a shame ter row, though," said Hagrid, giving Harry another of his sideways looks. "If I was ter -- er -- speed things up a bit, would yeh mind not mentionin' it at Hogwarts?"**

Sirius beamed, "Yes Hagrid! Break the rules!"

"He really shouldn't," sighed Lily.

"But it would take them forever to get back to the mainland otherwise!" exclaimed James.

**"Of course not," said Harry, eager to see more magic. Hagrid pulled out the pink umbrella again, tapped it twice on the side of the boat, and they sped off toward land.**

**"Why would you be mad to try and rob Gringotts?" Harry asked.**

**"Spells -- enchantments," said Hagrid, unfolding his newspaper as he**

**spoke. "They say there's dragons guardin' the high-security vaults. And then yeh gotta find yer way -- Gringotts is hundreds of miles under London, see. Deep under the Underground. Yeh'd die of hunger tryin' ter get out, even if yeh did manage ter get yer hands on summat."**

"There are," agreed Sirius.

"I might regret this but, there are what?" asked Remus.

"Dragons in the high security vaults, great big ones too. It's brilliant!" explained Sirius.

"How do you know that?" asked a slightly wide-eyed Lily, "Have you tried to actually…"

"That idiot," he laughed grinning at his best mate, "He wouldn't make it out alive, plus the spells on that place are incredible."

Sirius grinned back, "Wouldn't be for lack of trying but my family has a vault down there. Only been down there once when mother had to get something," explained Sirius.

**Harry sat and thought about this while Hagrid read his newspaper, the Daily Prophet. Harry had learned from Uncle Vernon that people liked to be left alone while they did this, but it was very difficult, he'd never had so many questions in his life.**

**"Ministry o' Magic messin' things up as usual," Hagrid muttered, turning the page.**

**"There's a Ministry of Magic?" Harry asked, before he could stop himself.**

**"'Course," said Hagrid. "They wanted Dumbledore fer Minister, o' course, but he'd never leave Hogwarts, so old Cornelius Fudge got the job.**

"Cornelius Fudge?!" exclaimed James.

"You know him?" asked Lily.

"Yeah, met him once or twice," nodded James, "How in Merlin's name is he minister?"

"Why what's wrong with him?" she asked again.

"He's a bloody idiot," answered Remus.

"He'd probably forget his own head if it weren't attached to his body," agreed Sirius.

"Dresses weirdly too, he has very loud clothes," added Peter, "They scare me sometimes."

"Everything scares you Wormtail," laughed James.

"Then how did he get minster?" wondered Lily.

"Good publicity? That's the only way he would get it," suggested Remus.

**Bungler if ever there was one. So he pelts Dumbledore with owls every morning, askin' fer advice."**

**"But what does a Ministry of Magic do?"**

**"Well, their main job is to keep it from the Muggles that there's still witches an' wizards up an' down the country."**

**"Why?"**

**"Why? Blimey, Harry, everyone'd be wantin' magic solutions to their problems. Nah, we're best left alone."**

**At this moment the boat bumped gently into the harbour wall. Hagrid folded up his newspaper, and they clambered up the stone steps onto the street.**

**Passers-by stared a lot at Hagrid as they walked through the little town to the station. Harry couldn't blame them. Not only was Hagrid twice as tall as anyone else, he kept pointing at perfectly ordinary things like parking meters and saying loudly, "See that, Harry? Things these Muggles dream up, eh?"**

"Parking meters?" asked Sirius.

Lily sighed, "Black you should pay attention in Muggle Studies."

"It's not going to happen, Lils," laughed Remus before turning to Sirius, "Parking meters are something Muggles use when parking their car. They put money in it so they don't get charged a fine," Remus tried to explain it the best he could. Sirius took a moment before nodding.

"Weird. Why would you pay for that? I agree with Hagrid, the things these Muggles dream up," he chuckled.

**"Hagrid," said Harry, panting a bit as he ran to keep up, "did you say there are dragons at Gringotts?"**

**"Well, so they say," said Hagrid. "Crikey, I'd like a dragon."**

**"You'd like one?"**

**"Wanted one ever since I was a kid -- here we go."**

"Why does that not surprise me?" laughed James.

"We should get him one! For Christmas! For helping out Harry!" beamed Sirius,

James's eyes lit up, "That's perfect, Paddy!"

"And where would you get your hands on one? They aren't exactly legal anymore," questioned Remus.

"Not to mention, dangerous," added Lily.

"We'll work out the details later," shrugged James.

**They had reached the station. There was a train to London in five minutes' time. Hagrid, who didn't understand "Muggle money," as he called it, gave the bills to Harry so he could buy their tickets.**

**People stared more than ever on the train. Hagrid took up two seats and sat knitting what looked like a canary-yellow circus tent.**

**"Still got yer letter, Harry?" he asked as he counted stitches. Harry took the parchment envelope out of his pocket.**

**"Good," said Hagrid. "There's a list there of everything yeh need."**

**Harry unfolded a second piece of paper he hadn't noticed the night before, and read:**

**HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY**

**UNIFORM**

**First-year students will require:**

**1. Three sets of plain work robes (black)**

**2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear**

**3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)**

**4. One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)**

**Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags**

**COURSE BOOKS**

**All students should have a copy of each of the following:**

**The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk**

**A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot**

**Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling**

**A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration by Emetic Switch**

**One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore**

**Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger**

**Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander**

**The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble**

**OTHER EQUIPMENT**

**wand cauldron (pewter, standard size 2) set glass or crystal phials**

**telescope set**

**brass scales**

**Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad**

**PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS**

Lily smiled smugly at James, "Can you read that last bit again, Potter? I don't think I quite heard it."

James glared at Lily, but found he couldn't keep it up long as he loved her too much, "He can still buy one… for next year," he grumbled.

"Buy him a Quiddich book instead. It's a compromise," suggested Remus.

Both tried to find a fault with Remus's suggestion, but couldn't.

"I guess that's alright," agreed Lily.

"Fine," muttered James.

**"Can we buy all this in London?" Harry wondered aloud.**

**"If yeh know where to go," said Hagrid.**

**Harry had never been to London before. Although Hagrid seemed to know where he was going, he was obviously not used to getting there in an ordinary way. He got stuck in the ticket barrier on the Underground, and complained loudly that the seats were too small and the trains too slow.**

**"I don't know how the Muggles manage without magic," he said as they climbed a broken-down escalator that led up to a bustling road lined with shops.**

"Muggles have technology," shrugged Lily, "Its not too bad."

"Don't even think about it Padfoot," said Remus, as Sirius went to ask Lily another question.

He just gave Remus an innocent look, "Moony, how do you expect me to learn if I don't ask questions?"

"Listen in class perhaps," muttered Remus.

**Hagrid was so huge that he parted the crowd easily; all Harry had to do was keep close behind him. They passed book shops and music stores, hamburger restaurants and cinemas, but nowhere that looked as if it could sell you a magic wand. This was just an ordinary street full of ordinary people. Could there really be piles of wizard gold buried miles beneath them? Were there really shops that sold spell books and broomsticks? Might this not all be some huge joke that the Dursleys had cooked up? If Harry hadn't known that the Dursleys had no sense of humour, he might have thought so; yet somehow, even though everything Hagrid had told him so far was unbelievable, Harry couldn't help trusting him.**

**"This is it," said Hagrid, coming to a halt, "the Leaky Cauldron. It's a famous place."**

"LEAKY CAULDRON!" exclaimed James and Sirius, moving so they could high five.

"Damn, I was hoping you two had given up on that," sighed Remus.

"Not a chance, Moony," laughed James, "We haven't had a reason to for a while so we have to take every chance we get!" Sirius nodded enthusiastically in agreement.

**It was a tiny, grubby-looking pub. If Hagrid hadn't pointed it out, Harry wouldn't have noticed it was there. The people hurrying by didn't glance at it. Their eyes slid from the big book shop on one side to the record shop on the other as if they couldn't see the Leaky Cauldron at all. In fact, Harry had the most peculiar feeling that only he and Hagrid could see it. Before he could mention this, Hagrid had steered him inside.**

**For a famous place, it was very dark and shabby. A few old women were sitting in a corner, drinking tiny glasses of sherry. One of them was smoking a long pipe. A little man in a top hat was talking to the old bartender, who was quite bald and looked like a toothless walnut. The low buzz of chatter stopped when they walked in. Everyone seemed to know Hagrid; they waved and smiled at him, and the bartender reached for a glass, saying, "The usual, Hagrid?"**

**"Can't, Tom, I'm on Hogwarts business," said Hagrid, clapping his great hand on Harry's shoulder and making Harry's knees buckle.**

"Good Ol' Tom," smiled Sirius.

"He helped me out when I hit my head on a table once," said Peter, absentmindedly rubbing his head, "Gave me some headache potion."

"Snuck Paddy and I some firewhiskey when my parents weren't looking when we was 13," said James, a gleam in his eye.

"That's illegal!" exclaimed Lily.

Remus shrugged, "Doesn't matter to Tom much. Plus they wouldn't stop annoying him."

"And it wasn't much. Just enough to burn your throat on the way down," added Sirius, "It was good firewhiskey."

**"Good Lord," said the bartender, peering at Harry, "is this -- can this be --?"**

**The Leaky Cauldron had suddenly gone completely still and silent.**

**"Bless my soul," whispered the old bartender, "Harry Potter... what an honour."**

"Damn straight it's an honour! He is _my _son afterall," exclaimed James proudly.

"Your son… Yeah, that's it. It's not the fact he defeated one of the most powerful wizards of our time, noooo that's not it at all," said Lily sarcastically.

"Well, that too. But I'm famous too!" pouted James.

"You're famous because you die, Prongs," remarked Sirius.

"Least I died saving the two people I love," he beamed, winking at Lily who rolled her eyes.

**He hurried out from behind the bar, rushed toward Harry and seized his hand, tears in his eyes.**

**"Welcome back, Mr. Potter, welcome back."**

**Harry didn't know what to say. Everyone was looking at him. The old woman with the pipe was puffing on it without realising it had gone out. Hagrid was beaming.**

**Then there was a great scraping of chairs and the next moment, Harry found himself shaking hands with everyone in the Leaky Cauldron.**

**"Doris Crockford, Mr. Potter, can't believe I'm meeting you at last."**

"Doris Crockford, that name sound familiar," muttered James. The other four just shrugged.

**"So proud, Mr. Potter, I'm just so proud."**

**"Always wanted to shake your hand -- I'm all of a flutter."**

**"Delighted, Mr. Potter, just can't tell you, Diggle's the name, Dedalus Diggle."**

"DIGGLE!" shouted James and Sirius, earning a few giggles from some first year girls in the corner of the common room.

"The boy is an idiot," said Lily, trying unsuccessfully to hold back her laughter.

"He's very amusing though," laughed Remus.

"Gave us fireworks for last years end of year prank," said James.

**"I've seen you before!" said Harry, as Dedalus Diggle's top hat fell off in his excitement. "You bowed to me once in a shop."**

**"He remembers!" cried Dedalus Diggle, looking around at everyone. "Did you hear that? He remembers me!" Harry shook hands again and again -- Doris Crockford kept coming back for more.**

"Crockford… Crockford," James muttered the name over and over to himself before realization dawn his face as he turned to Sirius.

"Hey Padfoot, didn't you snog a Hufflepuff girl named Doris last year who was in the year above us?" he asked.

Sirius took a moment to think, he snogged quite a few girls last year, "Maybe, I remember snogging a few Hufflepuffs last year."

"Such a player," muttered Lily.

"It's all in good fun, Evans. Stress relief that's all," he replied winking.

**A pale young man made his way forward, very nervously. One of his eyes was twitching.**

**"Professor Quirrell!" said Hagrid. "Harry, Professor Quirrell will be one of your teachers at Hogwarts."**

"Quirrell, that sounds familiar too," said Remus.

Peter nodded, "He's a Ravenclaw in the year below us, we study together sometimes."

**"P-P-Potter," stammered Professor Quirrell, grasping Harry's hand, "c-can't t-tell you how p- pleased I am to meet you."**

**"What sort of magic do you teach, Professor Quirrell?"**

**"D-Defence Against the D-D-Dark Arts," muttered Professor Quirrell, as though he'd rather not think about it. "N-not that you n-need it, eh, P-P-Potter?" He laughed nervously.**

"That stuttering is quite annoying to read. Almost as bad as reading the way Hagrid says stuff," said a slightly frustrated James.

"Quinrinus doesn't usually stutter…" mumbled Peter

Sirius shrugged, "It's been years, Wormtail. Things change."

**"You'll be g-getting all your equipment, I suppose? I've g-got to p-pick up a new b-book on vampires, m-myself." He looked terrified at the very thought.**

**But the others wouldn't let Professor Quirrell keep Harry to himself. It took almost ten minutes to get away from them all. At last, Hagrid managed to make himself heard over the babble.**

**"Must get on -- lots ter buy. Come on, Harry."**

**Doris Crockford shook Harry's hand one last time, and Hagrid led them through the bar and out into a small, walled courtyard, where there was nothing but a trash can and a few weeds.**

**Hagrid grinned at Harry.**

**"Told yeh, didn't I? Told yeh you was famous. Even Professor Quirrell was tremblin' ter meet yeh -- mind you, he's usually tremblin'."**

**"Is he always that nervous?"**

**"Oh, yeah. Poor bloke. Brilliant mind. He was fine while he was studyin' outta books but then he took a year off ter get some firsthand experience.... They say he met vampires in the Black Forest, and there was a nasty bit o' trouble with a hag -- never been the same since. Scared of the students, scared of his own subject now, where's me umbrella?"**

**Vampires? Hags? Harry's head was swimming. Hagrid, meanwhile, was counting bricks in the wall above the trash can.**

**"Three up... two across he muttered. "Right, stand back, Harry."**

**He tapped the wall three times with the point of his umbrella.**

**The brick he had touched quivered -- it wriggled -- in the middle, a small hole appeared -- it grew wider and wider -- a second later they were facing an archway large enough even for Hagrid, an archway onto a cobbled street that twisted and turned out of sight.**

**"Welcome," said Hagrid, "to Diagon Alley."**

James and Sirius both beamed at the thought of Harry walking into Diagon Alley.

"Wish I was there with him," sighed Lily quietly while Sirius and Remus were talking about Diagon Alley.

"You will, Evans. We'll fix it, you'll see," said James winking at her.

**He grinned at Harry's amazement. They stepped through the archway. Harry looked quickly over his shoulder and saw the archway shrink instantly back into solid wall.**

**The sun shone brightly on a stack of cauldrons outside the nearest shop. Cauldrons -- All Sizes - Copper, Brass, Pewter, Silver -- Self-Stirring -- Collapsible, said a sign hanging over them.**

"Don't get a collapsible one, Harry," warned Peter, after which he got weird looks from his friends.

"I had one in third year and…and it collapsed on me when I was making the potion," explained Peter wincing at the memory.

"I remember that!" laughed Sirius.

"I think I do too," agreed Lily.

"I remember having to take Wormtail to the hospital wing because you were covered in boils," chuckled Remus.

"It's not my fault," said Peter, attempting to pout.

"Sorry mate but it kind of is. Only you could make a collapsible cauldron do that," laughed James.

**"Yeah, you'll be needin' one," said Hagrid, "but we gotta get yer money first."**

**Harry wished he had about eight more eyes. He turned his head in every direction as they walked up the street, trying to look at everything at once: the shops, the things outside them, the people doing their shopping. A plump woman outside an Apothecary was shaking her head as they passed, saying, "Dragon liver, seventeen Sickles an ounce, they're mad...."**

"That's a bit steep," frowned Lily.

"Evans, our future son is in Diagon Alley for the first time and your concerned about the price of dragon liver?" asked James laughing. Lily, having no retort, just glared in response

**A low, soft hooting came from a dark shop with a sign saying Eeylops Owl Emporium -- Tawny, Screech, Barn, Brown, and Snowy. Several boys of about Harry's age had their noses pressed against a window with broomsticks in it. "Look," Harry heard one of them say, "the new Nimbus Two Thousand -- fastest ever --" **

James and Sirius looked at each other slowly with their mouths open.

"Nimbus Two Thousand?" whispered Sirius.

"The fastest ever!" said James, a huge grin on his face.

"Harry needs that broom," said Sirius eagerly, Lily was about to disagree when James spoke first.

"Couldn't agree more," James responded.

"But there is one hitch, first years can't have brooms," chuckled Remus, the faces of both boys fell, "There is always next year though," he reassured them.

**There were shops selling robes, shops selling telescopes and strange silver instruments Harry had never seen before, windows stacked with barrels of bat spleens and eels' eyes, tottering piles of spell books, quills, and rolls of parchment, potion bottles, globes of the moon....**

**"Gringotts," said Hagrid.**

**They had reached a snowy white building that towered over the other little shops. Standing beside its burnished bronze doors, wearing a uniform of scarlet and gold, was -**

**"Yeah, that's a goblin," said Hagrid quietly as they walked up the white stone steps toward him. The goblin was about a head shorter than Harry. He had a swarthy, clever face, a pointed beard and, Harry noticed, very long fingers and feet. He bowed as they walked inside. Now they were facing a second pair of doors, silver this time, with words engraved upon them:**

**Enter, stranger, but take heed**

**Of what awaits the sin of greed,**

**For those who take, but do not earn,**

**Must pay most dearly in their turn.**

**So if you seek beneath our floors**

**A treasure that was never yours,**

**Thief, you have been warned, beware**

**Of finding more than treasure there.**

**"Like I said, Yeh'd be mad ter try an' rob it," said Hagrid.**

"Because of the incredibly awesome dragons," nodded Sirius, Remus hit him with a cushion in response.

**A pair of goblins bowed them through the silver doors and they were in a vast marble hall. About a hundred more goblins were sitting on high stools behind a long counter, scribbling in large ledgers, weighing coins in brass scales, examining precious stones through eyeglasses. There were too many doors to count leading off the hall, and yet more goblins were showing people in and out of these. Hagrid and Harry made for the counter.**

**"Morning," said Hagrid to a free goblin. "We've come ter take some money outta Mr. Harry Potter's safe."**

**"You have his key, Sir?"**

**"Got it here somewhere," said Hagrid, and he started emptying his pockets onto the counter, scattering a handful of mouldy dog biscuits over the goblin's book of numbers. The goblin wrinkled his nose. Harry watched the goblin on their right weighing a pile of rubies as big as glowing coals.**

**"Got it," said Hagrid at last, holding up a tiny golden key.**

**The goblin looked at it closely.**

**"That seems to be in order."**

**"An' I've also got a letter here from Professor Dumbledore," said Hagrid importantly, throwing out his chest. "It's about the You-Know-What in vault seven hundred and thirteen."**

"Wonder what that is…" speculated Sirius.

"It's obviously something important," answered James.

"Maybe it's the house cup or something?" said Peter.

"Why would they keep that at Gringotts. It makes no sense," disagreed Remus.

"You know Hagrid would have said what it was if we were meant to know," added Lily.

"But Lily darling, it's fun to speculate," said James.

**The goblin read the letter carefully.**

**"Very well," he said, handing it back to Hagrid, "I will have Someone take you down to both vaults. Griphook!"**

**Griphook was yet another goblin. Once Hagrid had crammed all the dog biscuits back inside his pockets, he and Harry followed Griphook toward one of the doors leading off the hall.**

**"What's the You-Know-What in vault seven hundred and thirteen?" Harry asked.**

**"Can't tell yeh that," said Hagrid mysteriously. "Very secret. Hogwarts business. Dumbledore's trusted me. More'n my job's worth ter tell yeh that."**

Lily smirked smugly at James.

"Doesn't change the fact that speculating is fun," repeated James.

"It must be bloody important, if Hagrid would lose his job for it," said Sirius.

**Griphook held the door open for them. Harry, who had expected more marble, was surprised. They were in a narrow stone passageway lit with flaming torches. It sloped steeply downward and there were little railway tracks on the floor. Griphook whistled and a small cart came hurtling up the tracks toward them. They climbed in -- Hagrid with some difficulty -- and were off.**

**At first they just hurtled through a maze of twisting passages. Harry tried to remember, left, right, right, left, middle fork, right, left, but it was impossible. **

**The rattling cart seemed to know its own way, because Griphook wasn't steering.**

**Harry's eyes stung as the cold air rushed past them, but he kept them wide open. Once, he thought he saw a burst of fire at the end of a passage and twisted around to see if it was a dragon, but too late –**

Sirius groaned, "Haaaarry! You're meant to back me up on the dragon thing."

"Sorry Padfoot but it was probably just a torch," said James trying not to laugh at his friend.

"And you're meant to back me up too," whined Sirius, "There are dragons and they are awesome."

"How would they keep the 'awesome dragons' from getting out?" asked an amused Remus.

"Chain them up," answered Sirius like it was obvious.

"Isn't that cruel?" questioned Lily, a worried tone lacing her voice.

James shrugged, "Either chain them or having them attack people as they go through the tunnels."

**they plunged even deeper, passing an underground lake where huge stalactites and stalagmites grew from the ceiling and floor.**

**I never know," Harry called to Hagrid over the noise of the cart, "what's the difference between a stalagmite and a stalactite?"**

"Maybe Harry is more like Evans that he is Prongs," laughed Remus.

James frowned while Lily beamed.

"How?" asked James, still frowning.

"Prongs, you'd be like me looking for dragons and enjoying the cart ride," replied Sirius.

"Where as Lily may have been asking questions like Harry is," added Remus.

James contemplated this for a minute; he looked up at Lily and saw the huge smile on her face that Harry was like her. Or maybe it was because she won something over James, but either way he didn't have it in him to ruin her moment.

"I guess your right," he sighed, "But there aren't dragons," he said pointing at Sirius.

**"Stalagmite's got an 'm' in it," said Hagrid. "An' don' ask me questions just now, I think I'm gonna be sick."**

**He did look very green, and when the cart stopped at last beside a small door in the passage wall, Hagrid got out and had to lean against the wall to stop his knees from trembling.**

**Griphook unlocked the door. A lot of green smoke came billowing out, and as it cleared, Harry gasped. Inside were mounds of gold coins. Columns of silver. Heaps of little bronze Knuts.**

**"All yours," smiled Hagrid.**

**All Harry's -- it was incredible.**

"See Harry me and Potter will look after you," said Lily smiling softly at the book.

"It's a bit odd that Harry's parents are calling each other by their last names don't you think Moony?" posed Sirius.

Remus laughed, "I suppose you're right, Padfoot."

"I'm not married to Potter yet so there is no need to call him on a first name basis," huffed Lily.

"And I call Evans, Lily sometimes," argued James.

"Yeah but it's often followed by Darling or the word Tiger is put before it," said Remus, still chuckling away.

**The Dursleys couldn't have known about this or they'd have had it from him faster than blinking. How often had they complained how much Harry cost them to keep? And all the time there had been a small fortune belonging to him, buried deep under London.**

**Hagrid helped Harry pile some of it into a bag.**

**"The gold ones are Galleons," he explained. "Seventeen silver Sickles to a Galleon and twenty-nine Knuts to a Sickle, it's easy enough. **

"It took me ages to get that right," said Lily.

**Right, that should be enough fer a couple o' terms, we'll keep the rest safe for yeh." He turned to Griphook. "Vault seven hundred and thirteen now, please, and can we go more slowly?"**

**"One speed only," said Griphook.**

**They were going even deeper now and gathering speed. The air became colder and colder as they hurtled round tight corners. They went rattling over an underground ravine, and Harry leaned over the side to try to see what was down at the dark bottom, but Hagrid groaned and pulled him back by the scruff of his neck.**

**Vault seven hundred and thirteen had no keyhole.**

**"Stand back," said Griphook importantly. He stroked the door gently with one of his long fingers and it simply melted away.**

**"If anyone but a Gringotts goblin tried that, they'd be sucked through the door and trapped in there," said Griphook.**

"Woah," whispered the boys.

"That is so cool!" exclaimed Sirius.

"I never knew vaults like that existed," said Peter.

**"How often do you check to see if anyone's inside?" Harry asked.**

**"About once every ten years," said Griphook with a rather nasty grin.**

**Something really extraordinary had to be inside this top security vault, Harry was sure, and he leaned forward eagerly, expecting to see fabulous jewels at the very least -- but at first he thought it was empty. Then he noticed a grubby little package wrapped up in brown paper lying on the floor.**

"How… anti climatic," sighed James disappointed.

"Speculating isn't so fun now, hey Potter?" chuckled Lily. James just pouted at her hoping for sympathy, which made her laugh harder.

"It still could be a jewel," suggested Peter, "Just because it's wrapped in paper."

"Well one thing is for sure, it's not the house cup," said Sirius.

"Maybe it's the philosopher's stone," shrugged Lily. The boys looked at her in wonder before shaking their heads.

"It's too obvious," said Remus.

**Hagrid picked it up and tucked it deep inside his coat. Harry longed to know what it was, but knew better than to ask.**

"Curiosity did kill the cat," agreed Lily.

"Maybe the cat needed to die," muttered Sirius, to which Lily looked at him horrified.

"Paddy doesn't like cats all that much," explained James.

"I'm more of a dog person," Sirius agreed.

**"Come on, back in this infernal cart, and don't talk to me on the way back, it's best if I keep me mouth shut," said Hagrid.**

**One wild cart ride later they stood blinking in the sunlight outside Gringotts. Harry didn't know where to run first now that he had a bag full of money. He didn't have to know how many Galleons there were to a pound to know that he was holding more money than he'd had in his whole life -- more money than even Dudley had ever had.**

**"Might as well get yer uniform," said Hagrid, nodding toward Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. "Listen, Harry, would yeh mind if I slipped off fer a pick-me-up in the Leaky Cauldron? I hate them Gringotts carts." He did still look a bit sick, so Harry entered Madam Malkin's shop alone, feeling nervous.**

**Madam Malkin was a squat, smiling witch dressed all in mauve.**

**"Hogwarts, clear?" she said, when Harry started to speak. "Got the lot here -- another young man being fitted up just now, in fact. "**

**In the back of the shop, a boy with a pale, pointed face was standing on a footstool while a second witch pinned up his long black robes. Madam Malkin stood Harry on a stool next to him) slipped a long robe over his head, and began to pin it to the right length.**

"Maybe Harry will make his first friend!" exclaimed an excited Lily.

"Just as long as he isn't a Slytherin, I don't care," said James.

**"Hello," said the boy, "Hogwarts, too?"**

**"Yes," said Harry.**

**"My father's next door buying my books and mother's up the street looking at wands," said the boy. He had a bored, drawling voice. "Then I'm going to drag them off to took at racing brooms. I don't see why first years can't have their own. I think I'll bully father into getting me one and I'll smuggle it in somehow."**

Sirius and James grinned, "I like him," said James.

"The boy likes his Quidditch. That's not a bad thing," agreed Sirius.

"But bullying his father?" asked Remus.

"That's not a good thing but c'mon brooms!" said James.

**Harry was strongly reminded of Dudley.**

**"Have you got your own broom?" the boy went on.**

**"No," said Harry.**

**"Play Quidditch at all?"**

**"No," Harry said again, wondering what on earth Quidditch could be.**

A pained look crossed James face, which made Lily burst out laughing.

"It's alright Prongs," reassured Remus.

"Yeah, he'll learn," agreed Peter.

**"I do -- Father says it's a crime if I'm not picked to play for my house, and I must say, I agree. Know what house you'll be in yet?"**

**"No," said Harry, feeling more stupid by the minute.**

**"Well, no one really knows until they get there, do they, but I know I'll be in Slytherin, all our family have been -- imagine being in Hufflepuff, I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?"**

All four boys glared at the book, "Harry you stay away from that boy," growled James.

"Never speak to him," muttered Sirius darkly.

"Ever," agreed Remus. Lily was surprised by the behaviour of the boys even Remus didn't like him.

"I thought you liked him," said a confused Lily, "Remember, 'Brooms!' 'Quidditch!' and all that?"

"Evans, he's a Slytherin. I don't want my son in Slytherin. Nor making friends with anyone in Slytherin," explained James.

"Also he made fun of Hufflepuff. There are some perfectly good people in that house," agreed Remus.

"All the people in Slytherin in Harry's year are going to be the children of the people in our year at the moment. Think about it Evans, Harry be friend with Lestrange or Malfoy?" added Sirius.

"Harry's too nice to be a Slytherin anyway," nodded Peter.

Lily sighed, "Eh I guess you're right. Hufflepuff is a good house… and Lestrange always creeped me out a bit."

**"Mmm," said Harry, wishing he could say something a bit more interesting.**

**"I say, look at that man!" said the boy suddenly, nodding toward the front window. Hagrid was standing there, grinning at Harry and pointing at two large ice creams to show he couldn't come in.**

**"That's Hagrid," said Harry, pleased to know something the boy didn't. "He works at Hogwarts."**

**"Oh," said the boy, "I've heard of him. He's a sort of servant, isn't he?"**

**"He's the gamekeeper," said Harry. He was liking the boy less and less every second.**

**"Yes, exactly. I heard he's a sort of savage -- lives in a hut on the school grounds and every now and then he gets drunk, tries to do magic, and ends up setting fire to his bed."**

**"I think he's brilliant," said Harry coldly.**

"Go Harry!" cheered Sirius and surprisingly Remus.

**"Do you?" said the boy, with a slight sneer. "Why is he with you? Where are your parents?"**

**"They're dead," said Harry shortly. He didn't feel much like going into the matter with this boy.**

**"Oh, sorry," said the other,. not sounding sorry at all. "But they were our kind, weren't they?"**

**"They were a witch and wizard, if that's what you mean."**

**"I really don't think they should let the other sort in, do you? They're just not the same, they've never been brought up to know our ways. Some of them have never even heard of Hogwarts until they get the letter, imagine. I think they should keep it in the old wizarding families. What's your surname, anyway?"**

"I do not like him at all," said James glaring at the book.

"Some of the most brilliant witches and wizards of our time were Muggleborns," agreed Remus.

"He sounds exactly like the people I grew up with," muttered Sirius.

**But before Harry could answer, Madam Malkin said, "That's you done, my dear," and Harry, not sorry for an excuse to stop talking to the boy, hopped down from the footstool.**

**"Well, I'll see you at Hogwarts, I suppose," said the drawling boy.**

**Harry was rather quiet as he ate the ice cream Hagrid had bought him (chocolate and raspberry with chopped nuts).**

**"What's up?" said Hagrid.**

**"Nothing," Harry lied. They stopped to buy parchment and quills. Harry cheered up a bit when he found a bottle of ink that changed colour as you wrote. When they had left the shop, he said, "Hagrid, what's Quidditch?"**

**"Blimey, Harry, I keep forgettin' how little yeh know -- not knowin' about Quidditch!"**

**"Don't make me feel worse," said Harry. He told Hagrid about the pale boy in Madam Malkin's.**

**"--and he said people from Muggle families shouldn't even be allowed in."**

**"Yer not from a Muggle family. If he'd known who yeh were -- he's grown up knowin' yer name if his parents are wizardin' folk. You saw what everyone in the Leaky Cauldron was like when they saw yeh. Anyway, what does he know about it, some o' the best I ever saw were the only ones with magic in 'em in a long line 0' Muggles -- look at yer mum! Look what she had fer a sister!"**

Lily smiled softly.

"Aww," mocked Sirius in a girly tone, "How sweet of him,"

The other boys chuckled at Sirius's behaviour.

"Shut it, Black. Hagrid's very nice," said Lily shortly.

"You are kind of brilliant," said James.

"And you are kind of stupid. Read Potter," she replied.

**"So what is Quidditch?"**

**"It's our sport. Wizard sport. It's like -- like soccer in the Muggle world -- everyone follows Quidditch -- played up in the air on broomsticks and there's four balls -- sorta hard ter explain the rules."**

**"And what are Slytherin and Hufflepuff?"**

**"School houses. There's four. Everyone says Hufflepuff are a lot o' duffers, but --"**

**"I bet I'm in Hufflepuff" said Harry gloomily.**

"You're not going to be a Hufflepuffian, Harry!" said Sirius.

"Hufflepuffian?" questioned Remus.

"Yeah, a person in Hufflepuff," replied Sirius in a matter of fact tone.

"Harry's not going to be a _Hufflepuffian," _laughed James, "He's going to be in Gryffindor like his parents. And the Potter family has been in Gryffindor for generations," he continued proudly.

**"Better Hufflepuff than Slytherin," said Hagrid darkly. "There's not a single witch or wizard who went bad who wasn't in Slytherin. You-Know-Who was one."**

**"Vol-, sorry - You-Know-Who was at Hogwarts?"**

**"Years an' years ago," said Hagrid.**

**They bought Harry's school books in a shop called Flourish and Blotts where the shelves were stacked to the ceiling with books as large as paving stones bound in leather; books the size of postage stamps in covers of silk; books full of peculiar symbols and a few books with nothing in them at all. Even Dudley, who never read anything, would have been wild to get his hands on some of these. Hagrid almost had to drag Harry away from Curses and Countercurses (Bewitch Your Friends and Befuddle Your Enemies with the Latest Revenges: Hair Loss, Jelly-Legs, Tongue- Tying and Much, Much More) by Professor Vindictus Viridian.**

James grinned proudly, "He does take after me afterall!" He backflipped off the couch to high five Sirius.

"Mate we will make a Marauder out of him yet!" Sirius said hugging his best mate.

The rest just laughed at the two.

"You'd think they'd just won a game of Quidditch or something," chuckled Lily.

"Ah Lily flower," James began as he took his seat lounging behind Lily once more, "Harry's inherited my need for trouble! That's almost better than winning Quidditch."

**"I was trying to find out how to curse Dudley."**

**"I'm not sayin' that's not a good idea, but yer not ter use magic in the Muggle world except in very special circumstances," said Hagrid. "An' anyway, yeh couldn' work any of them curses yet, yeh'll need a lot more study before yeh get ter that level."**

**Hagrid wouldn't let Harry buy a solid gold cauldron, either ("It says pewter on yer list"),**

"He has good taste," laughed Remus.

"Very expensive taste," agreed Lily.

"The boy just knows what he wants!" said James still grinning like an idiot.

**but they got a nice set of scales for weighing potion ingredients and a collapsible brass telescope. **

"I remember Wormtail's collapsible telescope collapsed on him the first day of astronomy," chuckled Sirius smiling over at Peter.

"I hope it doesn't happen to Harry," worried Peter.

Lily shook her head, "It won't," she laughed quietly.

**Then they visited the Apothecary, which was fascinating enough to make up for its horrible smell, a mixture of bad eggs and rotted cabbages. Barrels of slimy stuff stood on the floor; jars of herbs, dried roots, and bright powders lined the walls; bundles of feathers, strings of fangs, and snarled claws hung from the ceiling. While Hagrid asked the man behind the counter for a supply of some basic potion ingredients for Harry, Harry himself examined silver unicorn horns at twenty-one Galleons each and minuscule, glittery-black beetle eyes (five Knuts a scoop).**

**Outside the Apothecary, Hagrid checked Harry's list again.**

**"Just yer wand left - A yeah, an' I still haven't got yeh a birthday present."**

**Harry felt himself go red.**

**"You don't have to --"**

**"I know I don't have to. Tell yeh what, I'll get yer animal. Not a toad, toads went outta fashion years ago, yeh'd be laughed at - an' I don' like cats, they make me sneeze. I'll get yer an owl. All the kids want owls, they're dead useful, carry yer mail an' everythin'."**

"That's nice of Hagrid to get Harry an owl," commented Remus.

"Best birthday present he's ever gotten," agreed Sirius.

"Besides a broom," muttered James quietly, "Although I never saw why people got toads," he said a bit louder.

"They…" started Sirius trying to find a reason, "are green?"

Everyone laughed but no one else could find an advantage to owning a toad.

**Twenty minutes later, they left Eeylops Owl Emporium, which had been dark and full of rustling and flickering, jewel-bright eyes. Harry now carried a large cage that held a beautiful snowy owl, fast asleep with her head under her wing. He couldn't stop stammering his thanks, sounding just like Professor Quirrell.**

**"Don' mention it," said Hagrid gruffly. "Don' expect you've had a lotta presents from them Dursleys. Just Ollivanders left now - only place fer wands, Ollivanders, and yeh gotta have the best wand."**

"The best wand for the best son," said James, smiling.

"Prongs," started Sirius looking over at James.

"Yeah?"

"That was beyond corny," Sirius laughed, to which James hit him with a cushion.

"I thought it was… kind of sweet," said Lily, a slightly awkward tone in her voice. James's face lit up like a Christmas tree and then turned to Sirius and poked his tongue out at him.

**A magic wand... this was what Harry had been really looking forward to.**

**The last shop was narrow and shabby. Peeling gold letters over the door read Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C. A single wand lay on a faded purple cushion in the dusty window.**

**A tinkling bell rang somewhere in the depths of the shop as they stepped inside. It was a tiny place, empty except for a single, spindly chair that Hagrid sat on to wait. Harry felt strangely as though he had entered a very strict library; he swallowed a lot of new questions that had just occurred to him and looked instead at the thousands of narrow boxes piled neatly right up to the ceiling. For some reason, the back of his neck prickled. The very dust and silence in here seemed to tingle with some secret magic.**

**"Good afternoon," said a soft voice. Harry jumped. Hagrid must have jumped, too, because there was a loud crunching noise and he got quickly off the spindly chair.**

**An old man was standing before them, his wide, pale eyes shining like moons through the gloom of the shop.**

**"Hello," said Harry awkwardly.**

**"Ah yes," said the man. "Yes, yes. I thought I'd be seeing you soon. Harry Potter." It wasn't a question. "You have your mother's eyes. It seems only yesterday she was in here herself, buying her first wand. Ten and a quarter inches long, swishy, made of willow. Nice wand for charm work."**

"How does he remember that?" asked Lily in astonishment.

"Old Ollivander remembers all the wands he sells," replied Remus.

"Don't know how he does it. Something like that would make my head explode," said Sirius rubbing his head.

"Padfoot, some people have a brain larger than a peanut," chuckled James.

"If I have the brain of a peanut, yours must be the size of a grain of rice," retorted Sirius while throwing the same cushion for earlier back at James, who caught it and put it behind him.

"I swear you are both five year olds sometimes," sighed Lily trying to be serious but failing.

**Mr. Ollivander moved closer to Harry. Harry wished he would blink. Those silvery eyes were a bit creepy.**

**"Your father, on the other hand, favoured a mahogany wand. Eleven inches. Pliable. A little more power and excellent for transfiguration. Well, I say your father favoured it -- it's really the wand that chooses the wizard, of course."**

James picked up his wand and twirled it in his left hand, "It's served me well."

**Mr. Ollivander had come so close that he and Harry were almost nose to nose. Harry could see himself reflected in those misty eyes.**

**"And that's where..."**

**Mr. Ollivander touched the lightning scar on Harry's forehead with a long, white finger.**

"Get your hands off Harry, you pervert!" Exclaimed Sirius, as he stood and pointed at James. A few people looked at Sirius with confusion on his face before Remus and Peter both pulled him back into his seat.

"What?" laughed Lily.

"Ollivander is a perv. I mean you just have to look at him to see it," explained Sirius.

"You have to be joking," said Lily still laughing.

"Unfortunately, he's completely serious," said Peter.

"Don't!" said Remus loudly before Sirius could make a 'Sirius/Serious' joke.

"But I haven't made one since second year," he pouted, "And I swear the last time I was in that shop Ollivander was looking me up and down, like he wanted to eat me."

James, Remus and Peter laughed and Lily choked on thin air.

"I wouldn't think on it too much Evans. Sirius lives in his own world most of the time," James said looking over at Lily.

**"I'm sorry to say I sold the wand that did it," he said softly.**

**"Thirteen-and-a-half inches. Yew. Powerful wand, very powerful, and in the wrong hands... well, if I'd known what that wand was going out into the world to do...."**

**He shook his head and then, to Harry's relief, spotted Hagrid.**

**"Rubeus! Rubeus Hagrid! How nice to see you again.... Oak, sixteen inches, rather bendy, wasn't it?"**

**"It was, sir, yes," said Hagrid.**

**"Good wand, that one. But I suppose they snapped it in half when you got expelled?" said Mr. Ollivander, suddenly stern.**

**"Er -- yes, they did, yes," said Hagrid, shuffling his feet. "I've still got the pieces, though," he added brightly.**

**"But you don't use them?" said Mr. Ollivander sharply.**

**"Oh, no, sit," said Hagrid quickly. Harry noticed he gripped his pink umbrella very tightly as he spoke.**

**"Hmmm," said Mr. Ollivander, giving Hagrid a piercing look. "Well, now -- Mr. Potter. Let me see." He pulled a long tape measure with silver markings out of his pocket. "Which is your wand arm?"**

**"Er -- well, I'm right-handed," said Harry.**

**"Hold out your arm. That's it." He measured Harry from shoulder to finger, then wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor, knee to armpit and round his head.**

"I never got why he had to do all the measuring. The arm I understand but the rest…" said Peter, trailing off towards the end.

"I guess to pick the right wand?" answered Remus shrugging, "Who knows what Ollivander's thinking…"

"He measures you so he knows whether you're suitable to uh… take out the back," muttered Sirius, alarming Peter.

"Peter, relax. Black isn't telling the truth," said Lily, trying to calm Pete.

**As he measured, he said, "Every Ollivander wand has a core of a powerful magical substance, Mr. Potter. We use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers, and the heartstrings of dragons. No two Ollivander wands are the same, just as no two unicorns, dragons, or phoenixes are quite the same. And of course, you will never get such good results with another wizard's wand."**

**Harry suddenly realised that the tape measure, which was measuring between his nostrils, was doing this on its own. Mr. Ollivander was flitting around the shelves, taking down boxes.**

**"That will do," he said, and the tape measure crumpled into a heap on the floor. "Right then, Mr. Potter. Try this one. Beechwood and dragon heartstring. Nine inches. Nice and flexible. just take it and give it a wave."**

**Harry took the wand and (feeling foolish) waved it around a bit, but Mr. Ollivander snatched it out of his hand almost at once.**

**"Maple and phoenix feather. Seven inches. Quite whippy. Try --"**

"Seven inches, Harry's wand is longer than seven inches I'll tell you now," muttered James.

"It's not the size that counts, it's how you use it," said Remus, smirking.

"You can have a short wand and still use it very well," said Sirius, sharing the same smirk as Sirius.

"Well," began James as he twirled his wand between his fingers again, "Eleven inches, you see I don't have that problem."

"Got you beat mate, twelve and a half inches," retorted Sirius grinning.

Lily huffed, "It's not a competition."

"But it is Lils," said Remus laughing, "Oh my the way I beat you both, thirteen inches," Remus smirked as the boys both sat there speechless.

"Damn it," muttered James.

"Beaten by, Moony of all people" said Sirius.

**Harry tried -- but he had hardly raised the wand when it, too, was snatched back by Mr. Ollivander.**

**"No, no -here, ebony and unicorn hair, eight and a half inches, springy. Go on, go on, try it out."**

**Harry tried. And tried. He had no idea what Mr. Ollivander was waiting for. The pile of tried wands was mounting higher and higher on the spindly chair, but the more wands Mr. Ollivander pulled from the shelves, the happier he seemed to become.**

**"Tricky customer, eh? Not to worry, we'll find the perfect match here somewhere -- I wonder, now - - yes, why not -- unusual combination -- holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple."**

**Harry took the wand. He felt a sudden warmth in his fingers. He raised the wand above his head, brought it swishing down through the dusty air and a stream of red and gold sparks shot from the end like a firework, throwing dancing spots of light on to the walls. Hagrid whooped and clapped and Mr. Ollivander cried, "Oh, bravo! Yes, indeed, oh, very good. Well, well, well... how curious... how very curious... "**

**He put Harry's wand back into its box and wrapped it in brown paper, still muttering, "Curious... curious..**

**"Sorry," said Harry, "but what's curious?"**

**Mr. Ollivander fixed Harry with his pale stare.**

**"I remember every wand I've ever sold, Mr. Potter. Every single wand. It so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather is in your wand, gave another feather -- just one other. It is very curious indeed that you should be destined for this wand when its brother why, its brother gave you that scar."**

The fivesome sat in silence no one dared to speak.

Peter was the first to speak up, "You-Know-Who and…and…Harry?"

James just nodded absentmindedly, "Yeah…"

"Maybe it's just a coincidence," said Lily uncertainly.

"It's weird though, maybe they are connected in some way?" asked Remus.

"My son, connected to Voldemort?" repeated James, watching Peter flinch out of the corner of his eye.

"Don't know how though," shrugged Remus.

"Maybe he is really special after all," said Sirius slightly smiling.

"Of course he's special, he defeated Voldemort," said James, again watching Peter flinch.

**Harry swallowed.**

**"Yes, thirteen-and-a-half inches. Yew. Curious indeed how these things happen. The wand chooses the wizard, remember.... I think we must expect great things from you, Mr. Potter.... After all, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did great things -- terrible, yes, but great."**

**Harry shivered. He wasn't sure he liked Mr. Ollivander too much. He paid seven gold Galleons for his wand, and Mr. Ollivander bowed them from his shop.**

**The late afternoon sun hung low in the sky as Harry and Hagrid made their way back down Diagon Alley, back through the wall, back through the Leaky Cauldron, now empty. Harry didn't speak at all as they walked down the road; he didn't even notice how much people were gawking at them on the Underground, laden as they were with all their funny-shaped packages, with the snowy owl asleep in its cage on Harry's lap.**

"That would have been interesting," said Lily laughing quietly.

"Didn't that happen to you first time round?" asked Sirius.

Lily shook her head, "No, mum and dad drove into London. It avoided getting asked a lot of questions."

**Up another escalator, out into Paddington station; Harry only realised where they were when Hagrid tapped him on the shoulder.**

**"Got time fer a bite to eat before yer train leaves," he said.**

**He bought Harry a hamburger and they sat down on plastic seats to eat them. Harry kept looking around. Everything looked so strange, somehow.**

**"You all right, Harry? Yer very quiet," said Hagrid.**

**Harry wasn't sure he could explain. He'd just had the best birthday of his life -- and yet -- he chewed his hamburger, trying to find the words.**

"Next time I see Hagrid, I'm giving him a hug," said James smiling.

"Even though he hasn't done anything yet?" asked Remus skeptically.

James nodded.

"I'll go in on that hug, Prongs," said Sirius.

**"Everyone thinks I'm special," he said at last. "All those people in the Leaky Cauldron, Professor Quirrell, Mr. Ollivander... but I don't know anything about magic at all. How can they expect great things? I'm famous and I can't even remember what I'm famous for. I don't know what happened when Vol-, sorry -- I mean, the night my parents died."**

"He doesn't even remember us," said Lily sadly.

James looked at Lily with kind eyes, "In his defence, he was only one."

"If he doesn't remember you, he wouldn't remember me either," said Sirius with a slight sad tone.

"I think his parents take priority in this situation, Padfoot," said Remus, "Plus you could have gone and rescued him."

"So could you," retorted Sirius.

"Yep, have him live with the werewolf, great idea Sirius," muttered Remus so no one would hear.

**Hagrid leaned across the table. Behind the wild beard and eyebrows he wore a very kind smile.**

**"Don' you worry, Harry. You'll learn fast enough. Everyone starts at the beginning at Hogwarts, you'll be just fine. just be yerself. I know it's hard. Yeh've been singled out, an' that's always hard. But yeh'll have a great time at Hogwarts -- I did -- still do, 'smatter of fact."**

"It's a lot of fun, Harry," nodded Peter.

"Lots of Slytherins to prank!" grinned Sirius.

"And awesome friends to make," added James.

Sirius groaned again.

"What?" asked James.

"You're being corny again Prongs, be a man damn it," smirked Sirius.

**Hagrid helped Harry on to the train that would take him back to the Dursleys, then handed him an envelope.**

**"Yer ticket fer Hogwarts, " he said. "First o' September -- King's Cross -- it's all on yer ticket. Any problems with the Dursleys, send me a letter with yer owl, she'll know where to find me.... See yeh soon, Harry."**

**The train pulled out of the station. Harry wanted to watch Hagrid until he was out of sight; he rose in his seat and pressed his nose against the window, but he blinked and Hagrid had gone.**

James threw the book onto the table and put his hand behind his head, "Right who's reading now?"

"I think Peter should read," suggested Sirius. Peter hid behind his cushion and went into the fetal position.

"It's really not that bad, Wormtail," said Remus.

"One more chapter then I'm off to bed," said Lily holding back a yawn.

"Tomorrow's Sunday so we have all day to read the book," said James a bit too excited, "You want to join us again Evans?" James asked in what was meant to be a casual tone, but sounded like an excited child.

Lily gave it some thought, "Why not? Not because I want to spend time with you Potter. I want to see what happens to Harry at Hogwarts."

James beamed at her answer, while Sirius chucked the book to Peter, "Just read Wormtail."


	6. Chapter 6: Platform 9 and three quarters

I know. I'm sorry, it's been like 6 months since I've last posted a chapter.

I feel terrible :(

But here is a new chapter, and it is really, really long. I had no clue how long this chapter was, or at least it took me ages to do.

Next one won't take so long, haha

I've taken to writing this during my psych lectures and in my breaks and university.

Sorry if it's not the best chapter, the writing of it was a bit scattered.

But without further ado, I hope you enjoy the chapter :D

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"_Tomorrow's Sunday so we have all day to read the book," said James a bit too excited, "You want to join us again Evans?" James asked in what was meant to be a casual tone, but sounded like an excited child. _

_Lily gave it some thought, "Why not? Not because I want to spend time with you Potter. I want to see what happens to Harry at Hogwarts." _

_James beamed at her answer, while Sirius chucked the book to Peter, "Just read Wormtail." _

Peter picked up the book and found chapter six.

**Chapter Six: Platform Nine and Three Quarters.**

"Harry's off to Hogwarts!" exclaimed Sirius, making James excited.

"About bloody time," sighed Remus.

**Harry's last month with the Dursleys wasn't fun. **

"Is it _ever_ any fun with the Dursleys?" asked James.

"Now that Harry's going to Hogwarts is definitely not going to help the situation," replied Lily, "Believe me…"

"I feel sorry for poor Harry. Going back to the Dursleys wouldn't be easy," said Remus.

**True, Dudley was now so scared of Harry he wouldn't stay in the same room, while Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon didn't shut Harry in his cupboard, force him to do anything, or shout at him -- in fact, they didn't speak to him at all. **

"That's an improvement," said Sirius.

"How is that not fun? He doesn't have to put up with their idiocy?" chuckled James.

"But getting the silent treatment wouldn't be much fun either really," added Remus.

**Half terrified, half furious, they acted as though any chair with Harry in it were empty. Although this was an improvement in many ways, it did become a bit depressing after a while.**

**Harry kept to his room, with his new owl for company. He had decided to call her Hedwig, a name he had found in A History of Magic. His school books were very interesting. **

James and Sirius both groaned.

"Haaaaaarry…" moaned James, "Why are you reading your textbooks? You're not meant to do that!"

"Did you ever think Potter that Harry might actually be interested in learning? Getting a head start before he leaves for Hogwarts?" huffed Lily, crossing her arms.

"But Evans, History of Magic?! There are so many better classes than that," added Sirius, matter of factly.

"Like Transfiguration!" grinned James.

"Defense Against The Dark Arts!" said Sirius, copying James' look.

"History of Magic is very interesting!" said Lily defending herself. She looked over at Remus and Peter for some form of support but Peter shook his head, not wanting to go against his idols and Remus shrugged.

"As much as I am for Harry learning as much as he can, History of Magic can be kind of dull at times, even you can admit that Lils. You don't have to go against James on _everything," _reasoned Remus, she glared at him in response.

James nodded in agreement, "Would it be so bad if we agreed for once? The world won't end if we do."

"Yes it will. My world will end," muttered Lily.

"Hedwig _is _kind of a cool name," thought Sirius out loud.

Peter and James both nodded in agreement.

**He lay on his bed reading late into the night, Hedwig swooping in and out of the open window as she pleased. It was lucky that Aunt Petunia didn't come in to vacuum anymore, because Hedwig kept bringing back dead mice. Every night before he went to sleep, Harry ticked off another day on the piece of paper he had pinned to the wall, counting down to September the first.**

"Awww," cooed Lily, "He's so excited!"

"I would be too if I got to leave the Dursley's for a whole year," muttered James.

**On the last day of August he thought he'd better speak to his aunt and uncle about getting to King's Cross station the next day, so he went down to the living room where they were watching a quiz show on television. He cleared his throat to let them know he was there, and Dudley screamed and ran from the room.**

**"Er -- Uncle Vernon?"**

**Uncle Vernon grunted to show he was listening.**

"Did he lose the ability of speech or is he just bloody lazy?" quipped Remus.

"Lazy," replied James, Sirius and Lily at the same time.

"But it would be pretty funny if he just began to talk in grunts," laughed James.

"Maybe he's slowly becoming a troll," said Peter.

"Probably would be a slight improvement on Dursley at the moment," laughed Lily.

**"Er -- I need to be at King's Cross tomorrow to -- to go to Hogwarts."**

**Uncle Vernon grunted again.**

**"Would it be all right if you gave me a lift?"**

**Grunt. Harry supposed that meant yes.**

"Dear Merlin, just speak! It's not that hard!" said a slightly frustrated Remus, making the three boys and Lily laugh quietly.

"You just sort of open your mouth and make the grunt into words," mockingly explained Sirius.

**"Thank you."**

**He was about to go back upstairs when Uncle Vernon actually spoke.**

**"Funny way to get to a wizards' school, the train. Magic carpets all got punctures, have they?"**

"Oh he is _so _witty!" exclaimed Sirius in a sarcastic tone.

"I know!" said James, joining in, "Why… Oh why can't we be as witty as Vernon Dursley?"

"I'm glad Dursley rediscovered proper speech but if you two decide to become 'witty' like him, our friendship is officially over," said Remus, a small chuckle in his voice.

"Moony, Moony, Moony," said Sirius, putting his arm around Remus which caused him to roll his eyes, "You wouldn't do that because we would be _that _funny and _that_ entertaining that you couldn't leave us," he said laughing towards the end.

**Harry didn't say anything.**

**"Where is this school, anyway?"**

**"I don't know," said Harry, realising this for the first time. He pulled the ticket Hagrid had given him out of his pocket.**

**"I just take the train from platform nine and three-quarters at eleven o'clock," he read.**

**His aunt and uncle stared.**

**"Platform what?"**

**"Nine and three-quarters."**

**"Don't talk rubbish," said Uncle Vernon. "There is no platform nine and three-quarters."**

"He's wrong," said Peter.

"Of course he's wrong Wormtail. He's an idiot," replied Sirius.

"Pet shouldn't be surprised about the platform she's seen me go though it," she said. "She probably blocked it out of her memory," she muttered as an afterthought.

**"It's on my ticket."**

**"Barking,"**

Sirius let out a very realistic dog bark that startled Lily, making her jump in her seat, "Merlin, what was that?"

Sirius said nothing in response, but just had this proud grin on his face.

"Padfoot is all about adding 'another demention' remember?" laughed James.

Sirius nodded enthusiastically.

"Well cut it out Black," she replied.

**said Uncle Vernon, "howling mad, the lot of them. **

"Don't!" exclaimed Lily pointing at Sirius, who was on the verge of howling. He slumped back in his seat pouting.

**You'll see. You just wait. All right, we'll take you to King's Cross. We're going up to London tomorrow anyway, or I wouldn't bother."**

"Don't go out of your way too much Dursley," said James rolling his eyes.

**"Why are you going to London?" Harry asked, trying to keep things friendly.**

**"Taking Dudley to the hospital," growled Uncle Vernon. "Got to have that ruddy tail removed before he goes to Smeltings."**

The five cracked up in laughter at Dudley's tail.

"He still has that thing?" giggled Lily.

"Do you think they cut holes in his pants to let the tail through? I mean it would be uncomfortable otherwise," smirked Sirius.

"Merlin I hope so," agreed James.

**Harry woke at five o'clock the next morning and was too excited and nervous to go back to sleep. **

Awww," Lily cooed, while James watched her with a soft smile.

Sirius rolled his eyes to Remus and then pretended to be sick, making Remus laugh.

"Sod off Paddy," James said lightly still looking at Lily.

**He got up and pulled on his jeans because he didn't want to walk into the station in his wizard's robes -- he'd change on the train. He checked his Hogwarts list yet again to make sure he had everything he needed, saw that Hedwig was shut safely in her cage, and then paced the room, waiting for the Dursleys to get up. Two hours later, Harry's huge, heavy trunk had been loaded into the Dursleys' car, Aunt Petunia had talked Dudley into sitting next to Harry, and they had set off.**

**They reached King's Cross at half past ten. Uncle Vernon dumped Harry's trunk onto a cart and wheeled it into the station for him. Harry thought this was strangely kind **

"What is he up to?" asked James suspiciously.

"Maybe he's happy he's getting rid of Harry?" replied Remus.

**until Uncle Vernon stopped dead, facing the platforms with a nasty grin on his face.**

"What now?" sighed Sirius.

"Can't he just leave?" huffed Lily, "I don't want him near Harry for any longer."

**"Well, there you are, boy. Platform nine -- platform ten. Your platform should be somewhere in the middle, but they don't seem to have built it yet, do they?"**

**He was quite right, of course. There was a big plastic number nine over one platform and a big plastic number ten over the one next to it, and in the middle, nothing at all.**

"Sweetie, just look for some wizards to help you. They should be easy to spot," smiled Lily.

"Sweetie?" said James, raising an eyebrow with Sirius, Remus and Peter laughing quietly in the background.

"It's a term of endearment, Potter. He's my son after all."

"Our son," corrected James.

"Anyway," she continued, ignoring him, "I said it to make things easier for him. He's under enough stress to find the platform."

"Lily, you do realize he can't hear you right?" added Sirius slowly, "It is only a book. Harry can't hear you…"

This made James and Remus laugh out loud. Lily picked up a cushion and threw it at Sirius, the two laughed harder when the cushion hit Sirius, revealing a shocked look.

"I was only trying to help you know Evans," pouted Sirius.

**"Have a good term," said Uncle Vernon with an even nastier smile. He left without another word. Harry turned and saw the Dursleys drive away. All three of them were laughing. **

"Gits," muttered the boys in unison.

**Harry's mouth went rather dry. What on earth was he going to do? He was starting to attract a lot of funny looks, because of Hedwig. He'd have to ask someone.**

**He stopped a passing guard, but didn't dare mention platform nine and three-quarters. The guard had never heard of Hogwarts and when Harry couldn't even tell him what part of the country it was in, he started to get annoyed, as though Harry was being stupid on purpose.**

"Well he is your son, Prongs," laughed Remus,

"Stupid does run in the family," agreed Sirius.

"My son isn't stupid and neither am I. Plus he's Evans' son too so you'd be calling her stupid as well," retaliated James, grinning in, what he thought was victory.

"Don't drag me into this, Potter," said Lily. James' grin dropped, he was hoping Lily would be on his side.

"Better luck next time, mate," said Sirius, high fiving Remus.

**Getting desperate, Harry asked for the train that left at eleven o'clock, but the guard said there wasn't one. In the end the guard strode away, muttering about time wasters. Harry was now trying hard not to panic. According to the large clock over the arrivals board, he had ten minutes left to get on the train to Hogwarts and he had no idea how to do it; he was stranded in the middle of a station with a trunk he could hardly lift, a pocket full of wizard money, and a large owl.**

**Hagrid must have forgotten to tell him something you had to do, like tapping the third brick on the left to get into Diagon Alley. He wondered if he should get out his wand and start tapping the ticket inspector's stand between platforms nine and ten.**

"That would be a stupid idea," said Peter.

"Well he's desperate, no doubt in that situation you'd do the exact same thing," said Lily, jumping to her son's defense.

**At that moment a group of people passed just behind him and he caught a few words of what they were saying.**

**"-- packed with Muggles, of course --"**

They all sat up.

"Wizards!" exclaimed Lily.

"They can help Harry!" exclaimed James in the same excited tone.

"He'll get onto the platform after all!" she beamed, hugging James tightly around the middle. The other boys chuckled as James started to go red. Lily soon realized what she had done and let go only to see James with a smirk on his face.

"Don't get any ideas, Potter," she said narrowing her eyes.

"Of course not, Evans," he smirked.

"I just hope these wizards are better than the boy Harry met in Diagon Alley," said Remus, changing the topic incase Lily decided to hurt James.

"Stupid Slytherin," muttered Sirius in agreement.

**Harry swung round. The speaker was a plump woman who was talking to four boys, all with flaming red hair.**

"Weasleys?" asked James.

"Probably," agreed Remus.

"Do you know any other wizarding families where everyone is a redhead" laughed Sirius.

**Each of them was pushing a trunk like Harry's in front of him -- and they had an owl.**

**Heart hammering, Harry pushed his cart after them. They stopped and so did he, just near enough to hear what they were saying.**

**"Now, what's the platform number?" said the boys' mother.**

**"Nine and three-quarters!" piped a small girl, also red-headed, who was holding her hand, "Mom, can't I go... "**

**"You're not old enough, Ginny, now be quiet. All right, Percy, you go first."**

**What looked like the oldest boy marched toward platforms nine and ten. Harry watched, careful not to blink in case he missed it -- but just as the boy reached the dividing barrier between the two platforms, a large crowd of tourists came swarming in front of him and by the time the last backpack had cleared away, the boy had vanished.**

"Really!?" gasped Sirius mockingly, "Wow…"

Lily threw a cushion at him, "Don't make fun of my son."

"I'm not making fun of Harry. Just what was written," he replied, catching the cushion.

**"Fred, you next," the plump woman said.**

**"I'm not Fred, I'm George," said the boy. "Honestly, woman, you call yourself our mother? Can't you tell I'm George?"**

**"Sorry, George, dear."**

**"Only joking, I am Fred," said the boy, and off he went. **

"I like those two," laughed James.

"They sound awesome," agreed Sirius laughing, "Harry should become friends with them."

**His twin called after him to hurry up, and he must have done so, because a second later, he had gone -- but how had he done it?**

"Magic!" said Peter.

"Well done Wormtail," said Sirius throwing Peter a piece of chocolate that was sitting on the table from earlier.

Remus rolled his eyes, "Don't feed Wormtail treats. He's more than capable of getting them himself." Sirius just grinned at Remus in response.

**Now the third brother was walking briskly toward the barrier he was almost there -- and then, quite suddenly, he wasn't anywhere.**

**There was nothing else for it.**

**"Excuse me," Harry said to the plump woman.**

**"Hello, dear," she said. "First time at Hogwarts? Ron's new, too."**

**She pointed at the last and youngest of her sons. He was tall, thin, and gangling, with freckles, big hands and feet, and a long nose.**

"Flattering description," chuckled Remus.

"He'd be quite the ladies man," nodded James, trying to keep a straight face.

"Well you know what they say about big hands and feet…" laughed Sirius.

"Big gloves and shoes?" replied James smirking.

"Both of you keep your minds out of the gutter," said Lily rolling her eyes.

"Ah but Evans, we were talking about shoes and gloves," said James innocently.

"We never even thought of what you are accusing us of," continued Sirius in the same innocent tone.

**"Yes," said Harry. "The thing is -- the thing is, I don't know how to --"**

**"How to get onto the platform?" she said kindly, and Harry nodded.**

**"Not to worry," she said. "All you have to do is walk straight at the barrier between platforms nine and ten. Don't stop and don't be scared you'll crash into it, that's very important. Best do it at a bit of a run if you're nervous. Go on, go now before Ron."**

**"Er -- okay," said Harry.**

"You'll be alright, Harry!" reassured Remus.

"Yeah Harry, totally fine. I mean it would be a waste of a book if you didn't get through the barrier," agreed Sirius.

**He pushed his trolley around and stared at the barrier. It looked very solid.**

**He started to walk toward it. People jostled him on their way to platforms nine and ten. Harry walked more quickly. He was going to smash right into that barrier and then he'd be in trouble -- leaning forward on his cart, he broke into a heavy run – **

"GO HARRY!" cheered James and Sirius.

**the barrier was coming nearer and nearer -- he wouldn't be able to stop -- the cart was out of control -- he was a foot away -- he closed his eyes ready for the crash --**

**It didn't come... he kept on running... he opened his eyes. A scarlet steam engine was waiting next to a platform packed with people.**

Lily let out a sigh of relief while the boys cheered.

"Told you, you'd be alright Harry," said Remus smiling.

**A sign overhead said Hogwarts Express, eleven O'clock. Harry looked behind him and saw a wrought-iron archway where the barrier had been, with the words Platform Nine and Three-Quarters on it, He had done it.**

The four boys cheered again.

**Smoke from the engine drifted over the heads of the chattering crowd, while cats of every colour wound here and there between their legs. Owls hooted to one another in a disgruntled sort of way over the babble and the scraping of heavy trunks.**

**The first few carriages were already packed with students, some hanging out of the window to talk to their families, some fighting over seats. Harry pushed his cart off down the platform in search of an empty seat. He passed a round-faced boy who was saying, "Gran, I've lost my toad again."**

"So people still do buy toads then…" laughed James.

"How did he lose it though?" asked Lily, "You'd think he'd keep an eye on it."

"Maybe he wanted to lose it," shrugged Remus.

**"Oh, Neville," he heard the old woman sigh.**

**A boy with dreadlocks was surrounded by a small crowd. "Give us a look, Lee, go on."**

**The boy lifted the lid of a box in his arms, and the people around him shrieked and yelled as something inside poked out a long, hairy leg.**

"Giant spider!" said Sirius a glint in his eye.

"You don't like spiders," thought Remus.

"No," he replied, "But they are good for pranks," he grinned.

**Harry pressed on through the crowd until he found an empty compartment near the end of the train. **

"End of the train is always good Harry. It will keep you out of trouble," nodded Lily.

"We sit at the end of the train, and we always cause trouble," said James.

"Hey! Maybe Harry's sitting in our compartment!" said an excited Sirius.

**He put Hedwig inside first and then started to shove and heave his trunk toward the train door. He tried to lift it up the steps but could hardly raise one end and twice he dropped it painfully on his foot.**

**"Want a hand?" It was one of the red-haired twins he'd followed through the barrier.**

**"Yes, please," Harry panted.**

**"Oy, Fred! C'mere and help!"**

**With the twins' help, Harry's trunk was at last tucked away in a corner of the compartment.**

"They're nice boys," smiled Lily.

"Not many people would help out first years," agreed James.

**"Thanks," said Harry, pushing his sweaty hair out of his eyes.**

**"What's that?" said one of the twins suddenly, pointing at Harry's lightning scar.**

**"Blimey," said the other twin. "Are you**

**"He is," said the first twin. "Aren't you?" he added to Harry.**

**"What?" said Harry.**

**"Harry Potter, "chorused the twins.**

**"Oh, him," said Harry. "I mean, yes, I am."**

The boys chuckled quietly to themselves.

"He sounds kind of like you on the train in first year, Prongs," said Sirius, making Remus and Sirius both laugh and making James go red.

"I – I don't know what your talking about…" muttered James.

Lily looked confused; "When I saw Potter on the first day he was the same as he ever was, an arrogant git."

"Thank you Evans," said James, "… I think?"

"Maybe in front of you he looked like normal but when we saw him he was a bumbling mess," laughed Remus.

"It was after I saw you Evans. You made me into a puddle with your intelligence and your beauty," James said with a charming smile.

"Evans always had that effect on you," nodded Sirius, "But it was still hilarious.

**The two boys gawked at him, and Harry felt himself turning red. Then, to his relief, a voice came floating in through the train's open door.**

**"Fred? George? Are you there?"**

**"Coming, Mum."**

**With a last look at Harry, the twins hopped off the train.**

**Harry sat down next to the window where, half hidden, he could watch the red-haired family on the platform and hear what they were saying. Their mother had just taken out her handkerchief.**

**"Ron, you've got something on your nose."**

**The youngest boy tried to jerk out of the way, but she grabbed him and began rubbing the end of his nose.**

**"Mom -- geroff" He wriggled free.**

**"Aaah, has ickle Ronnie got somefink on his nosie?" said one of the twins.**

The boys sniggered.

"I'm starting to like these twins," said Remus.

**"Shut up," said Ron.**

**"Where's Percy?" said their mother.**

**"He's coming now."**

**The oldest boy came striding into sight. He had already changed into his billowing black Hogwarts robes, and Harry noticed a shiny silver badge on his chest with the letter P on it.**

**"Can't stay long, Mother," he said. "I'm up front, the prefects have got two compartments to themselves --"**

**"Oh, are you a prefect, Percy?" said one of the twins, with an air of great surprise. "You should have said something, we had no idea."**

**"Hang on, I think I remember him saying something about it," said the other twin. "Once --"**

**"Or twice --"**

**"A minute --"**

**"All summer --"**

**"Oh, shut up," said Percy the Prefect.**

The boys laughed louder this time.

"Percy seems so different compared to his brothers," said Lily.

"That's probably a good thing, Percy seems like the typical prefect," said Sirius, gaining looks from both Remus and Lily.

"Oh not you Moony! You're great, really," he added, Lily raised an eyebrow, "I stand by what I said Evans." She rolled her eyes at him.

**"How come Percy gets new robes, anyway?" said one of the twins.**

**"Because he's a prefect," said their mother fondly. "All right, dear, well, have a good term -- send me an owl when you get there."**

**She kissed Percy on the cheek and he left. Then she turned to the twins.**

**"Now, you two -- this year, you behave yourselves. If I get one more owl telling me you've -- you've blown up a toilet or --"**

**"Blown up a toilet? We've never blown up a toilet."**

**"Great idea though, thanks, Mom."**

"Neither have we…" said James.

"How have we not blown up a toilet? We've done everything…" agreed Sirius.

"Sounds like a good idea though," piped up Peter.

"Definitely," James and Sirius said in unison.

"You're not blowing up a toilet," sighed Lily.

James sighed; he couldn't go against Lily, "We not going to…" He said looking away from Sirius pleading looks while Remus quietly laughed.

**"It's not funny. And look after Ron."**

**"Don't worry, ickle Ronniekins is safe with us."**

They all sniggered quietly.

**"Shut up," said Ron again. He was almost as tall as the twins already and his nose was still pink where his mother had rubbed it.**

**"Hey, Mum, guess what? Guess who we just met on the train?"**

**Harry leaned back quickly so they couldn't see him looking.**

**"You know that black-haired boy who was near us in the station? Know who he is?"**

**"Who?"**

**"Harry Potter!"**

**Harry heard the little girl's voice.**

**"Oh, Mum, can I go on the train and see him, Mum, please...."**

"My son is not an animal in a zoo!" huffed Lily.

"Although his father is," laughed Remus, after which Sirius made monkey noises.

**"You've already seen him, Ginny, and the poor boy isn't something you goggle at in a zoo. **

The boys laughed.

"Maybe Evans is channeling the mum," snorted Sirius.

"All mum's seem to be like that," said Peter.

"All mum's compare boys to things you 'goggle at in a zoo'?" asked Lily.

"Yep. My mum does it with Sirius all the time," grinned James.

**Is he really, Fred? How do you know?"**

**"Asked him. Saw his scar. It's really there - like lightning."**

**"Poor dear - no wonder he was alone, I wondered. He was ever so polite when he asked how to get onto the platform."**

**"Never mind that, do you think he remembers what You-Know-Who looks like?"**

**Their mother suddenly became very stern.**

**"I forbid you to ask him, Fred. No, don't you dare. As though he needs reminding of that on his first day at school."**

"Least he has someone looking out for him, Thank you red haired woman!" said James.

**"All right, keep your hair on."**

**A whistle sounded.**

**"Hurry up!" their mother said, and the three boys clambered onto the train. They leaned out of the window for her to kiss them good-bye, and their younger sister began to cry.**

**"Don't, Ginny, we'll send you loads of owls."**

**"We'll send you a Hogwarts toilet seat."**

They all laughed.

"I really, really like these boys," said Sirius.

"Wonder if they play Quidditch?" speculated James.

**"George!"**

**"Only joking, Mom."**

**The train began to move. Harry saw the boys' mother waving and their sister, half laughing, half crying, running to keep up with the train until it gathered too much speed, then she fell back and waved.**

**Harry watched the girl and her mother disappear as the train rounded the corner. Houses flashed past the window. Harry felt a great leap of excitement. He didn't know what he was going to but it had to be better than what he was leaving behind.**

"It's one thousand times better than what you're leaving," agreed Peter.

"Anything is better than the Dursleys," added Lily.

**The door of the compartment slid open and the youngest redheaded boy came in.**

**"Anyone sitting there?" he asked, pointing at the seat opposite Harry. "Everywhere else is full."**

"Ron, wasn't it?" Sirius thought out loud.

"They'll probably say in a sec, so shut up," muttered Lily, making James chuckle.

**Harry shook his head and the boy sat down. He glanced at Harry and then looked quickly out of the window, pretending he hadn't looked. Harry saw he still had a black mark on his nose.**

Sirius and James laughed.

"Why is that funny?" asked Lily.

"No reason really, it just is," shrugged James.

**"Hey, Ron."**

**The twins were back.**

**"Listen, we're going down the middle of the train -- Lee Jordan's got a giant tarantula down there."**

"And they are friends with the spider kid! Could they get any cooler?" said Sirius excitedly.

"I'm making my decision once I find out if they play Quidditch," said James.

"There is more to life than Quidditch," disagreed Lily.

"Maybe there is, but Quiddtch is brilliant," shrugged James, "Maybe Lee Jordan and those twins will use the spider in a prank?" he continued a glint appearing in his eyes.

"If they do, I hope it's in the book!" agreed Sirius.

"Spiders scare me," squeaked Peter.

"Only since Padfoot and Prongs played that prank on you in second year," laughed Remus.

"They were fake spiders!" defended Sirius.

"Well… some of them were…" amended James.

**"Right," mumbled Ron.**

**"Harry," said the other twin, "did we introduce ourselves? Fred and George Weasley. And this is Ron, our brother. See you later, then.**

"So they are Weasleys then," said Lily.

"There is a Weasley in first year, umm Bill I think," said Remus.

"So that means that, that woman was Molly Weasley," beamed Sirius.

The group was quiet for a second before all the boys cheered, "MOLLY!" Making Lily giggle, "How did I not see that coming?"

**"Bye," said Harry and Ron. The twins slid the compartment door shut behind them.**

**"Are you really Harry Potter?" Ron blurted out.**

"Ron Weasley did your mother not teach you any manners?" scolded Lily.

"She did, but do you really think that they would listen?" asked Remus, an eyebrow raised.

"Plus if a famous wizard is on your train, you're going to ask him stuff," agreed Sirius.

**Harry nodded.**

**"Oh -well, I thought it might be one of Fred and George's jokes," said Ron. "And have you really got -- you know..."**

**He pointed at Harry's forehead.**

**Harry pulled back his bangs to show the lightning scar. Ron stared.**

"It's rude to stare too, you know," she muttered.

"Give him a break, Evans," chuckled James.

**"So that's where You-Know-Who**

**"Yes," said Harry, "but I can't remember it."**

**"Nothing?" said Ron eagerly.**

**"Well -- I remember a lot of green light, but nothing else."**

"He remembers the killing curse?" said James quietly.

"So he must have been there when the two of you… you know," Remus said awkwardly.

"Maybe he just remembers a light from a brilliant game I played with him once," grinned Sirius, making Lily and James laugh quietly.

**"Wow," said Ron. He sat and stared at Harry for a few moments, then, as though he had suddenly realised what he was doing, he looked quickly out of the window again.**

**"Are all your family wizards?" asked Harry, who found Ron just as interesting as Ron found him.**

**"Er -- Yes, I think so," said Ron. "I think Mom's got a second cousin who's an accountant, but we never talk about him."**

**"So you must know loads of magic already."**

**The Weasleys were clearly one of those old wizarding families the pale boy in Diagon Alley had talked about.**

"Yeah but the Weasleys are so much better than the family that the boy mentioned," muttered Sirius.

"Stick with Ron, Harry. He's from a good family," encouraged James.

**"I heard you went to live with Muggles," said Ron. "What are they like?"**

**"Horrible -well, not all of them. My aunt and uncle and cousin are, though. Wish I'd had three wizard brothers."**

"Maybe if we weren't killed you would have had three brothers Harry," grinned James.

"I always did want a big family," agreed Lily.

**"Five," said Ron. For some reason, he was looking gloomy. "I'm the sixth in our family to go to Hogwarts. You could say I've got a lot to live up to. Bill and Charlie have already left -- Bill was head boy and Charlie was captain of Quidditch. Now Percy's a prefect. Fred and George mess around a lot, but they still get really good marks and everyone thinks they're really funny. Everyone expects me to do as well as the others, but if I do, it's no big deal, because they did it first. You never get anything new, either, with five brothers. I've got Bill's old robes, Charlie's old wand, and Percy's old rat."**

"Poor kid," said James.

"I know, he gets all his brothers hand-me-downs," said Lily sympathetically.

"And he has a rat, who wants a rat?" laughed Sirius, before Peter hit him, "Sorry Wormtail."

"Bill becomes head boy, good for him," smiled Lily.

"You know, Fred and George kind of remind me of James and Sirius," commented Remus.

James and Sirius beamed, "Of course they do."

"They're smart, talented, funny, and so are we."

Lily rolled her eyes, "They may be, but you two are stupid, arrogant and sometime cruel to others."

"Pish posh Lily darling. We are never, ever cruel, nor arrogant and stupid. We are awesome in everyway," said James smirking.

**Ron reached inside his jacket and pulled out a fat grey rat, which was asleep.**

**"His name's Scabbers and he's useless, he hardly ever wakes up.**

Sirius laughed, "Sounds a bit like you Wormtail!" Peter attempted a glare at Sirius in response.

**Percy got an owl from my dad for being made a prefect, but they couldn't aff -- I mean, I got Scabbers instead."**

**Ron's ears went pink. He seemed to think he'd said too much, because he went back to staring out of the window.**

**Harry didn't think there was anything wrong with not being able to afford an owl. After all, he'd never had any money in his life until a month ago, and he told Ron so, all about having to wear Dudley's old clothes and never getting proper birthday presents. This seemed to cheer Ron up.**

"Awwww," cooed Lily, "That's very sweet of you Harry."

**"... and until Hagrid told me, I didn't know anything about being a wizard or about my parents or Voldemort"**

**Ron gasped.**

**"What?" said Harry.**

**"You said You-Know-Who's name!" said Ron, sounding both shocked and impressed. **

"Oh Merlin," sighed Remus.

"People are still afraid of saying his name after all those years?" asked Lily.

"It must get worse," said Sirius.

James nodded, "We think it's bad now, it will probably just escalate from here. Voldemort, is basically rounding up his army at the moment."

"Aka the Slytherins," said Sirius, "And probably my brother," he muttered as an afterthought.

**"I'd have thought you, of all people --"**

**"I'm not trying to be brave or anything, saying the name," said Harry, I just never knew you shouldn't. See what I mean? I've got loads to learn.... I bet," he added, voicing for the first time something that had been worrying him a lot lately, "I bet I'm the worst in the class."**

"Harry, you're a Potter!" encouraged James.

"He knows that much James," chuckled Remus.

James rolled his eyes at Remus before continuing, "It's like I've been saying. Magic comes naturally to the Potters. It's in his blood."

**"You won't be. There's loads of people who come from Muggle families and they learn quick enough."**

**While they had been talking, the train had carried them out of London. Now they were speeding past fields full of cows and sheep. They were quiet for a time, watching the fields and lanes flick past.**

**Around half past twelve there was a great clattering outside in the corridor and a smiling, dimpled woman slid back their door and said, "Anything off the cart, dears?"**

Sirius sighed happily at the thought of the food cart, "Many happy memories with that cart."

James nodded in agreement, "The pranks we used that cart for."

"And the food, always amazing," sighed Sirius again.

"You two are idiots, very odd idiots," said Lily.

**Harry, who hadn't had any breakfast, leapt to his feet, but Ron's ears went pink again and he muttered that he'd brought sandwiches. Harry went out into the corridor.**

**He had never had any money for candy with the Dursleys, and now that he had pockets rattling with gold and silver he was ready to buy as many Mars Bars as he could carry**

"Muggle chocolate bar, it's pretty good," said Lily before any of the boys could ask.

**-- but the woman didn't have Mars Bars. What she did have were Bettie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, Chocolate Frogs. Pumpkin Pasties, Cauldron Cakes, Liquorice Wands, and a number of other strange things Harry had never seen in his life. **

A loud rumbling interrupted Peter.

"What in Merlin's name…" muttered Lily.

Remus only said one word in response, "Food."

"All four of you?" asked Lily surprised.

Sirius shrugged, "Food," he said grinning.

"We're boys, food is practically like air," laughed James.

**Not wanting to miss anything, he got some of everything and paid the woman eleven silver Sickles and seven bronze Knuts.**

**Ron stared as Harry brought it all back in to the compartment and tipped it onto an empty seat.**

**"Hungry, are you?"**

**"Starving," said Harry, taking a large bite out of a pumpkin pasty.**

**Ron had taken out a lumpy package and unwrapped it. There were four sandwiches inside. He pulled one of them apart and said, "She always forgets I don't like corned beef."**

**"Swap you for one of these," said Harry, holding up a pasty. "Go on --"**

Lily beamed, "Even growing up with the Dursleys, Harry still grew up with manners."

"He's a good kid," agreed James.

**"You don't want this, it's all dry," said Ron. "She hasn't got much time," he added quickly, "you know, with five of us."**

**"Go on, have a pasty," said Harry, who had never had anything to share before or, indeed, anyone to share it with. It was a nice feeling, sitting there with Ron, eating their way through all Harry's pasties, cakes, and candies (the sandwiches lay forgotten).**

"The sandwiches don't sound that good," said Peter.

"Pumpkin pasties are so much better," agreed Sirius, thinking of food. Lily sighed and threw one of the leftover chocolate frogs, from the trip to the kitchens earlier, at Sirius hitting him in the nose.

James and Sirius laughed as Sirius grinned widely at the frog before slowly eating it, savoring every bite.

**"What are these?" Harry asked Ron, holding up a pack of Chocolate Frogs. "They're not really frogs, are they?" He was starting to feel that nothing would surprise him.**

**"No," said Ron. "But see what the card is. I'm missing Agrippa."**

"Hey!" cried James.

They all looked at him wondering the reason for the sudden outburst.

"Ron can't just take my son's card because he doesn't have it!" James explained.

"Agrippa is pretty hard to find Prongs, neither one of us have it," said Sirius.

"It's only a card, Potter. They're not that important," sighed Lily.

James decided to ignore most of what Lily said, "Every wizard should have a collection of cards, I just don't want Ron to steal Harry's first card, just because Harry doesn't know much about it," he said, pouting slightly at the end.

"You're right mate," chuckled Sirius, "Everyone deserves a wizard card collection."

**"What?"**

**"Oh, of course, you wouldn't know -- Chocolate Frogs have cards, inside them, you know, to collect -- famous witches and wizards. I've got about five hundred, but I haven't got Agrippa or Ptolemy."**

"Maybe he should give some to Harry?" suggested Lily.

The boys looked at her wide-eyed, "What?" she asked.

"You don't ask someone just to give up part of their collection for free," explained Remus.

"But Harry doesn't have any… Potter, you were just complaining about this," tried Lily.

James shook his head, "Nope, _I said that_ Harry shouldn't give his card to Ron if it's something he hasn't got. Not that Ron should just give up some of his cards."

"Harry doesn't need the charity," agreed Sirius.

Lily sighed, giving up, "Boys…" she muttered under her breath.

**Harry unwrapped his Chocolate Frog and picked up the card. It showed a man's face. He wore half- moon glasses, had a long, crooked nose, and flowing silver hair, beard, and moustache. **

"Dumbledore," said Peter, matter of factly.

"No, really Wormtail?" said Remus sarcastically making Sirius chuckle.

"I've got about ten of him," said James.

**Underneath the picture was the name Albus Dumbledore.**

**"So this is Dumbledore!" said Harry.**

**"Don't tell me you'd never heard of Dumbledore!" said Ron. **

"He doesn't know anything, Ron," said Lily, her cheeks slightly red.

"Chill Lilypad, Ron's just being… Ron!" laughed Sirius.

"You don't know Ron! You just met him! And you haven't even met him yet you just know him through the book!" replied Lily trying not to raise her voice, but worrying Sirius all the same.

"Woah Evans, calm down will you?" said James, coming to his best mate's defense, "It doesn't matter. Deep breath in," James breathed in deeply hoping Lily would follow, she just glared at him.

"What?" asked James innocently.

"Ow," he rubbed his arm where Lily had hit him.

"Don't patronize me, Potter."

"I think it's that time of the month," mouthed Sirius, hoping Lily wouldn't see. Unfortunately for him, she did and proceeded to hit him with a stray chess piece on the floor.

"Read Pete, before it gets any worse," sighed a tired Remus.

**"Can I have a frog? I might get Agrippa -- thanks**

**Harry turned over his card and read:**

**ALBUS DUMBLEDORE**

**CURRENTLY HEADMASTER OF HOGWARTS**

**Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times, Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel. Professor Dumbledore enjoys chamber music and tenpin bowling.**

**Harry turned the card back over and saw, to his astonishment, that Dumbledore's face had disappeared.**

**"He's gone!"**

"What do you expect?" said Remus.

"Yeah he can't stay around all day," agreed Sirius.

**"Well, you can't expect him to hang around all day," said Ron.**

Sirius and Remus looked at each other and blinked, not knowing what to say making James and Peter laugh.

**"He'll be back. Oh well, I've got Morgana again and I've got about six of her... do you want it? You can start collecting."**

"That's nice of him," said Lily, "Or was it an act of charity?" she continued, raising an eyebrow at James.

"It _was_ nice of him. Helping Harry start his collection," agreed James.

"Yeah it's not like he pulled the card out of his own collection, that's a different matter," explained Remus.

"You know Remus, I was hoping you would be the reasonable one on this," commented Lily.

Remus shrugged, "Like Prongs said before, every wizard has a collection."

**Ron's eyes strayed to the pile of Chocolate Frogs waiting to be unwrapped.**

**"Help yourself," said Harry. "But in, you know, the Muggle world, people just stay put in photos."**

**"Do they? What, they don't move at all?" Ron sounded amazed. "weird!"**

"Don't they get bored?" asked Peter.

"Who?" Replied Sirius.

"The people, in the photos. I mean they have to stay there all day, wouldn't they get bored?" he elaborated.

"They don't have a conscience, Peter," explained Lily, "They are just one diamentional images. They don't do anything."

"Ohhhh," nodded Peter.

**Harry stared as Dumbledore sidled back into the picture on his card and gave him a small smile. Ron was more interested in eating the frogs than looking at the Famous Witches and Wizards cards, but Harry couldn't keep his eyes off them. Soon he had not only Dumbledore and Morgana, but Hengist of Woodcroft, Alberic Grunnion, Circe, Paracelsus, and Merlin. He finally tore his eyes away from the druidess Cliodna, who was scratching her nose, to open a bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans.**

**"You want to be careful with those," Ron warned Harry. "When they say every flavour, they mean every flavour -- you know, you get all the ordinary ones like chocolate and peppermint and marmalade, but then you can get spinach and liver and tripe. George reckons he had a booger-flavoured one once."**

"Grass," nodded Sirius.

"Raw fish," said James smugly.

"How is that a good thing?" asked Remus.

"It's worse that Padfoot's. That's how," said James, grinning over at Sirius.

"I never got the appeal," said Lily.

"Of course you didn't," sighed Sirius.

Lily glared, "I just never saw the point of eating jelly beans that taste like things like things you hate to eat normally."

**Ron picked up a green bean, looked at it carefully, and bit into a corner.**

**"Bleaaargh -- see? Sprouts."**

**They had a good time eating the Every Flavour Beans. Harry got toast, coconut, baked bean, strawberry, curry, grass, coffee, sardine, and was even brave enough to nibble the end off a funny grey one Ron wouldn't touch, which turned out to be pepper.**

"Wuss," scoffed Sirius.

**The countryside now flying past the window was becoming wilder. The neat fields had gone. Now there were woods, twisting rivers, and dark green hills.**

**There was a knock on the door of their compartment and the round-faced boy Harry had passed on platform nine and three-quarters came in. He looked tearful.**

**"Sorry," he said, "but have you seen a toad at all?"**

**When they shook their heads, he wailed, "I've lost him! He keeps getting away from me!"**

The boys laughed, "Some kids still have toads?"

"Apparently so," said James.

"You know kid, losing your toad… it's not that big of a loss," laughed Sirius.

"Yeah, you're probably better off without it," agreed James.

"Poor boy, he probably loves that thing," said Lily sympathetically.

"Who wants a toad? Honestly Lily," said Remus.

**"He'll turn up," said Harry.**

**"Yes," said the boy miserably. "Well, if you see him..." He left.**

**"Don't know why he's so bothered," said Ron. "If I'd brought a toad I'd lose it as quick as I could. Mind you, I brought Scabbers, so I can't talk."**

"See, even Ron agrees with us," said James.

"And a rat is better than a toad," added Peter.

**The rat was still snoozing on Ron's lap.**

**"He might have died and you wouldn't know the difference," said Ron in disgust. "I tried to turn him yellow yesterday to make him more interesting, but the spell didn't work. I'll show you, look..."**

"That would liven the old rat up," grinned Sirius excited.

"I like Ron, he causes a bit of mischief, even if it is just turning rats yellow at the moment," said Remus.

"He'll grow and he gets more skills in magic," nodded James.

**He rummaged around in his trunk and pulled out a very battered-looking wand. It was chipped in places and something white was glinting at the end.**

**"Unicorn hair's nearly poking out. Anyway**

**He had just raised his 'wand when the compartment door slid open again. The toadless boy was back, but this time he had a girl with him. **

"Damn it! I want see a yellow rat!" said Sirius, slamming his fist on the coffee table.

**She was already wearing her new Hogwarts robes.**

**"Has anyone seen a toad? Neville's lost one," she said. She had a bossy sort of voice, lots of bushy brown hair, and rather large front teeth.**

"Again with the lovely descriptions," said Lily.  
"This woman really seems to have a knack for them," agreed Remus.

"You know they've already said they haven't seen it," sighed James.

**"We've already told him we haven't seen it," said Ron, but the girl wasn't listening, she was looking at the wand in his hand.**

**"Oh, are you doing magic? Let's see it, then."**

**She sat down. Ron looked taken aback.**

**"Er -- all right."**

**He cleared his throat.**

**"Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow, Turn this stupid, fat rat yellow."**

"Uhhh," stuttered Remus.

"I've never heard that spell before," commented Peter.

"Because it doesn't exist, Wormtail," answered James.

"He is only a first year, after all," said Lily, "He'll get better," she smiled.

"…Lets hope so," agreed Sirius, "Shame too, I was looking forward to hearing about the yellow rat."

"Well, I can fix that for you Padfoot," smirked James, his eyes subtlety falling on Peter, who had yet to notice.

This made Sirius smirk too, "A little experiment?" James just nodded in reply.

**He waved his wand, but nothing happened. Scabbers stayed grey and fast asleep.**

**"Are you sure that's a real spell?" said the girl. "Well, it's not very good, is it? I've tried a few simple spells just for practice and it's all worked for me. **

The boys groaned.

"What's wrong?" asked Lily, she regretted asking as soon as she said it.

"She's a know-it-all," stated Sirius.

"Knows the textbooks by heart probably," added James.

"They think they're better than anyone else," said Remus.

"I read and learnt all the textbooks before we left for first year," said Lily.

"Of course you did," sighed Sirius, rolling his eyes, "I expected nothing less from you Evans," he smirked.

**Nobody in my family's magic at all, it was ever such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased, of course, I mean, it's the very best school of witchcraft there is, I've heard -- I've learned all our course books by heart, of course, I just hope it will be enough -- I'm Hermione Granger, by the way, who are you.**

**She said all this very fast.**

"Sounds like she needs a calming potion," muttered Lily.

Remus chuckled, "She's probably just excited, first day and all."

"You mean, know it all," said Sirius.

"Leave the poor girl alone, her and Harry might become friends," sighed Remus.

"Moony, Paddy's right. She's a know it all. Like I said, read the textbooks and know them off by heart. And as if Harry's going to be friends with her," said James, agreeing with Sirius.

Remus shrugged at Lily, "I tried."

**Harry looked at Ron, and was relieved to see by his stunned face that he hadn't learned all the course books by heart either.**

"No normal wizard does, Harry" muttered Sirius.

**"I'm Ron Weasley," Ron muttered.**

**"Harry Potter," said Harry.**

**"Are you really?" said Hermione. "I know all about you, of course - I got a few extra books for background reading, and you're in Modern Magical History and The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts and Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century.**

James beamed, proud of his son.

"A Potter in the history books, who would have thought that would ever happen?" laughed Remus.

James narrowed his eyes at Remus before grinning again, "Many Potters have been in the history books."

"Name one," he countered.

James stumbled for a moment, he'd never read the books but his father had mentioned it a few times. He looked at Lily hoping she would have read something at some stage, she just laughed, "You're on your own, Potter."

He kept thinking, an intense look on is face.

"Don't strain yourself there, Prongs," Sirius laughed lightly.

"I'll think of someone… eventually," sighed James.

"Find me when you do," laughed Remus.

**"Am I?" said Harry, feeling dazed.**

**"Goodness, didn't you know, I'd have found out everything I could if it was me," said Hermione. "Do either of you know what house you'll be in? I've been asking around, and I hope I'm in Gryffindor, it sounds by far the best; **

"NO!" yelled the boys, waking up a first year sleeping at a desk.

"She'll be a Ravenclaw for sure," said James.

"If she's in Gryffindor, I won't curse Snape for 3 days," murmured Sirius.

"She might be? I wanted to be in Gryffindor but people thought I wouldn't?" said Peter.

**I hear Dumbledore himself was in it, but I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad.... Anyway, we'd better go and look for Neville's toad. You two had better change, you know, I expect we'll be there soon."**

**And she left, taking the toadless boy with her.**

"Thank Merlin," muttered Sirius and James.

"I think she's probably very nice," said Lily.

"I'm sure you two would have a lot in common," agreed Peter, this made the boys laugh under their breath, Lily narrowed her eyes, Peter realized what he said could be taken the wrong way and stumbled, "I meant… I mean… You are both very smart and…"

Remus, James and Sirius laughed and Lily softened her gaze, "It's ok, Peter."

**"Whatever house I'm in, I hope she's not in it," said Ron. He threw his wand back into his trunk. "Stupid spell -- George gave it to me, bet he knew it was a dud."**

**"What house are your brothers in?" asked Harry.**

**"Gryffindor," said Ron. Gloom seemed to be settling on him again. "Mom and Dad were in it, too. I don't know what they'll say if I'm not. I don't suppose Ravenclaw would be too bad, but imagine if they put me in Slytherin."**

**"That's the house Vol-, I mean, You-Know-Who was in?"**

**"Yeah," said Ron. He flopped back into his seat, looking depressed.**

"You won't be in Slytherin, Ron," said Peter, smiling.

"Yeah, I mean most of the Weasleys have been in Gryffindor," agreed James.

**"You know, I think the ends of Scabbers' whiskers are a bit lighter," said Harry, trying to take Ron's mind off houses. "So what do your oldest brothers do now that they've left, anyway?"**

**Harry was wondering what a wizard did once he'd finished school.**

**"Charlie's in Romania studying dragons, and Bill's in Africa doing something for Gringotts," said Ron.**

Lily smiled, "I'm glad Bill does well at Hogwarts."

"He's probably a curse breaker," said Sirius.

"But isn't that dangerous?" she asked.

Remus nodded, "But only if you don't know what you're doing."

**"Did you hear about Gringotts? It's been all over the Daily Prophet, but I don't suppose you get that with the Muggles -- someone tried to rob a high security vault."**

**Harry stared.**

**"Really? What happened to them?"**

**"Nothing, that's why it's such big news. They haven't been caught. My dad says it must've been a powerful Dark wizard to get round Gringotts, but they don't think they took anything, that's what's odd. 'Course, everyone gets scared when something like this happens in case You-Know-Who's behind it."**

"I wonder if this has something to do with that package that Hagrid picked up?" asked James.

"The philosophers stone?" asked Sirius.

"I thought we had decided that it was too obvious to be the stone," added Remus.

No, you just said that," responded Sirius.

Lily rolled her eyes before adding to the argument, "I thought you lot were done with the speculating."

James chuckled before replying, "My darling Lily, I said it before and I'll say it again, speculating is half the fun." The other boys nodded in agreement.

"Maybe it's a dragon's heart…" said Sirius.

Remus looked at him oddly, "Why would it be that? They aren't that important."

Sirius shrugged, "What about a dragon egg then?"

"They're illegal! Can't possibly be," argued Lily.

"Plus why would they need a dragon at Hogwarts?" asked James.

Again, Sirius shrugged, "Defend the philosophers stone maybe?"

"Maybe we should wait and see," said Peter in a small voice.

Lily nodded, "I agree."

**Harry turned this news over in his mind. He was starting to get a prickle of fear every time You- Know-Who was mentioned. He supposed this was all part of entering the magical world, but it had been a lot more comfortable saying "Voldemort" without worrying.**

**"What's your Quidditch team?" Ron asked.**

**"Er -- I don't know any," Harry confessed.**

The jaws of both James and Sirius dropped, making Lily giggle.

"He's grown up with Muggles, what do you expect?" laughed Remus.

"It hurts a lot more than I thought it would," said James, clutching his chest.

**"What!" Ron looked dumbfounded. "Oh, you wait, it's the best game in the world --" And he was off, explaining all about the four balls and the positions of the seven players, describing famous games he'd been to with his brothers and the broomstick he'd like to get if he had the money.**

Sirius grinned, "Glad Ron is introducing him to it."

"Thank you Ron!" James said loudly.

Lily tried to suppress a laugh, "He can't hear you, Potter."

"I like to think that he can," he replied, winking at Lily, her usual eye-roll was the response.

**He was just taking Harry through the finer points of the game when the compartment door slid open yet again, but it wasn't Neville the toadless boy, or Hermione Granger this time.**

**Three boys entered, and Harry recognised the middle one at once: it was the pale boy from Madam Malkin's robe shop. He was looking at Harry with a lot more interest than he'd shown back in Diagon Alley.**

They groaned, "Not him again."

**"Is it true?" he said. "They're saying all down the train that Harry Potter's in this compartment. So it's you, is it?"**

**"Yes," said Harry. He was looking at the other boys. Both of them were thickset and looked extremely mean. Standing on either side of the pale boy, they looked like bodyguards.**

**"Oh, this is Crabbe and this is Goyle," said the pale boy carelessly, noticing where Harry was looking. "And my name's Malfoy, Draco Malfoy."**

The boys groaned again.

"Malfoy?" asked Peter.

James nodded, "Apparently, Lucius had a kid"

"Probably with my horrid cousin," muttered Sirius, "Didn't think there kind could reproduce," he added making the other marauders laugh.

"Knew there was something off about him in Madam Malkin's," added James.

**Ron gave a slight cough, which might have been hiding a snigger. Draco Malfoy looked at him.**

**"Think my name's funny, do you? No need to ask who you are. My father told me all the Weasleys have red hair, freckles, and more children than they can afford."**

**He turned back to Harry. "You'll soon find out some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there."**

Remus snorted, "Think Harry's more than capable of making his own friends."

"Why would he want to be friends with a Malfoy when he can be with the Weasleys," said James.

Lily agreed, "It would make Hogwarts much more bearable."

**He held out his hand to shake Harry's, but Harry didn't take it.**

**"I think I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself, thanks," he said coolly.**

They quietly cheered.

"Good boy Harry!" beamed James.

**Draco Malfoy didn't go red, but a pink tinge appeared in his pale cheeks.**

**"I'd be careful if I were you, Potter," he said slowly. "Unless you're a bit politer you'll go the same way as your parents. They didn't know what was good for them, either. You hang around with riffraff like the Weasleys and that Hagrid, and it'll rub off on you."**

"I'd much rather my son hang around with the 'riffraff' than with your kind, Malfoy," muttered Lily.

"Who knows what he'd catch," agreed Sirius.

**Both Harry and Ron stood up.**

**"Say that again," Ron said, his face as red as his hair.**

**"Oh, you're going to fight us, are you?" Malfoy sneered.**

**"Unless you get out now," said Harry, more bravely than he felt, because Crabbe and Goyle were a lot bigger than him or Ron.**

**"But we don't feet like leaving, do we, boys? We've eaten all our food and you still seem to have some."**

**Goyle reached toward the Chocolate Frogs next to Ron - Ron leapt forward, but before he'd so much as touched Goyle, Goyle let out a horrible yell.**

**Scabbers the rat was hanging off his finger, sharp little teeth sunk deep into Goyle's knuckle - Crabbe and Malfoy backed away as Goyle swung Scabbers round and round, howling, and when Scabbers finally flew off and hit the window, all three of them disappeared at once. Perhaps they thought there were more rats lurking among the sweets, or perhaps they'd heard footsteps, because a second later, Hermione Granger had come in.**

**"What has been going on?" she said, looking at the sweets all over the floor and Ron picking up Scabbers by his tail.**

**I think he's been knocked out," Ron said to Harry. He looked closer at Scabbers. "No -- I don't believe it -- he's gone back to sleep-"**

"Sounds a bit like you Wormtail," laughed James.

"Hit him over the head, he'll wake up for a second. You think you've knocked him out but he's just gone back to sleep," said Sirius laughing as well.

Lily looked at Peter, interested.

"He's just got a hard head, that's all," grinned Remus.

**And so he had.**

**"You've met Malfoy before?"**

**Harry explained about their meeting in Diagon Alley.**

**"I've heard of his family," said Ron darkly. "They were some of the first to come back to our side after You-Know-Who disappeared. Said they'd been bewitched. My dad doesn't believe it. He says Malfoy's father didn't need an excuse to go over to the Dark Side." **

"He was always a coward, Malfoy," scoffed Sirius, "You'd think he'd stay with his precious Dark Lord till the end."

"Probably didn't want to get carted off to Azkaban," said James.

**He turned to Hermione. "Can we help you with something?"**

**"You'd better hurry up and put your robes on, I've just been up to the front to ask the conductor, and he says we're nearly there. You haven't been fighting, have you? You'll be in trouble before we even get there!"**

**"Scabbers has been fighting, not us," said Ron, scowling at her. "Would you mind leaving while we change?"**

**"All right -- I only came in here because people outside are behaving very childishly, racing up and down the corridors," said Hermione in a sniffy voice. "And you've got dirt on your nose, by the way, did you know?"**

**Ron glared at her as she left. Harry peered out of the window. It was getting dark. He could see mountains and forests under a deep purple sky. The train did seem to be slowing down.**

**He and Ron took off their jackets and pulled on their long black robes. Ron's were a bit short for him, you could see his trainers underneath them.**

"Oh bless him," cooed Lily.

Sirius rolled his eyes, "Here we go again."

The boys suppressed a laugh when Lily looked over at Sirius in disapproval, "I feel sorry for the poor boy. He's got the rough end of the stick. Or maybe you just don't feel bad because you have money."

Remus and James looked at each other, they needed to shut Sirius up because he didn't know how to shut himself up. James grabbed a pillow and threw it at Sirius, which distracted him for a short time, allowing Peter to keep reading.

**A voice echoed through the train: "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately."**

**Harry's stomach lurched with nerves and Ron, he saw, looked pale under his freckles. They crammed their pockets with the last of the sweets and joined the crowd thronging the corridor.**

**The train slowed right down and finally stopped. People pushed their way toward the door and out on to a tiny, dark platform. Harry shivered in the cold night air. Then a lamp came bobbing over the heads of the students, and Harry heard a familiar voice: "Firs' years! Firs' years over here! All right there, Harry?"**

**Hagrid's big hairy face beamed over the sea of heads.**

**"C'mon, follow me -- any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!"**

**Slipping and stumbling, they followed Hagrid down what seemed to be a steep, narrow path. It was so dark on either side of them that Harry thought there must be thick trees there. Nobody spoke much. Neville, the boy who kept losing his toad, sniffed once or twice.**

**"Ye' all get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder, "jus' round this bend here."**

**There was a loud "Oooooh!"**

**The narrow path had opened suddenly onto the edge of a great black take. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers.**

Lily sighed, "I remember seeing the castle for the first time. I thought it looked like a dream, something out of a story book."

James just looked at Lily as her eyes glazed over and she sighed again.

Peter nodded, "All the lights, it looked pretty."

"Yeah," she agreed in an airy voice.

**"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore. Harry and Ron were followed into their boat by Neville and Hermione. **

"I hope Ron and Harry aren't stuck with Toad-Boy and miss Know-It-All," muttered Sirius.

**"Everyone in?" shouted Hagrid, who had a boat to himself. "Right then -- FORWARD!"**

**And the fleet of little boats moved off all at once, gliding across the lake, which was as smooth as glass. Everyone was silent, staring up at the great castle overhead. It towered over them as they sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood.**

**"Heads down!" yelled Hagrid as the first boats reached the cliff; they all bent their heads and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy that hid a wide opening in the cliff face. They were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle, until they reached a kind of underground harbour, where they clambered out onto rocks and pebbles.**

James suddenly started laughing.

"You alright there, Prongs?" asked Sirius.

James nodded still laughing, "Just thinking about when we were first years. Wormtail and the boat." All the boys started laughing while Lily sat perplexed.

"You don't remember Lily?" asked Remus still laughing. Lily shook her head, an eyebrow raised.

"Peter thought he saw a galleon floating on the lake," started James.

"Galleons don't float," said Lily looking at Peter.

"I was young," Peter said in his defence.

"And stupid," added Sirius, Pete attempted a glare in response.

"Anyway, he reached over to grab it and fell out of the boat and into the lake," laughed James.

Lily giggled, "I remember now. The rest of you almost went in too didn't you?"

Sirius nodded, "If we didn't steady the boat, we all would have be soaking wet at the feast."

**"Oy, you there! Is this your toad?" said Hagrid, who was checking the boats as people climbed out of them.**

**"Trevor!" cried Neville blissfully, holding out his hands. **

**Then they clambered up a passageway in the rock after Hagrid's lamp, coming out at last onto smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle.**

**They walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge, Oak front door.**

**"Everyone here? You there, still got yer toad?"**

**Hagrid raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door.**

"So glad Neville got his toad back," said Lily smiling.

Remus started to get up when Sirius and James looked at him confused, "I'm tired."

"But Harry's just gotten to Hogwarts, we can't leave it now!" pouted James, Sirius nodded in agreement.

"Potter we have all tomorrow," said Lily stretching.

James sighed, "Suppose your right." He picked up the book and the boys headed up to their dormitory, saying their goodnights to Lily.


End file.
